Chrissie Maher facts for kids

Chrissie Maher OBE (born 1938) helped start the Plain English Campaign. This group works to make the English language clear and easy to understand, especially for businesses and official groups. Chrissie wanted everyone to understand important information, no matter their education level. She was inspired by people like Sir Ernest Gowers and George Orwell who also believed in clear language.

Chrissie Maher's Early Life and Work

Chrissie Maher was born in 1938. She was the fifth of six children and grew up in a poor part of Liverpool called Tuebrook. She didn't get much formal schooling and couldn't read well until she was a teenager.

At 14, she started working as a clerk at an insurance company. Her first boss paid for her to go to night school. Later, she worked at a sewing factory and as a receptionist.

Helping Her Community

During the 1960s, Chrissie became very involved in helping her community. By 1971, she was married with four children and still lived in Tuebrook. She knew many adults, like her, hadn't learned to read and write properly. She decided to help these people, who often struggled to fill out important forms for money or benefits.

In 1971, Chrissie started the UK's first community newspaper, the Tuebrook Bugle. This newspaper allowed her to write articles asking organizations to use plain English. In 1974, she launched The Liverpool News, which was the UK's first newspaper for adults who had trouble reading. These early newspapers helped put many plain English ideas into action.

Chrissie was also a member of the UK's National Consumer Council. She stayed on the council until 1979. During this time, she started the Salford Form Market. This was a place where people could get help filling in forms. This project eventually led to the creation of the Plain English Campaign.

Launching the Plain English Campaign

Chrissie Maher officially launched the Plain English Campaign at a public event in London in 1979.

In 1994, Chrissie gave an example of the confusing language she wanted to change. She pointed out that Britain's National Health Service (NHS) had a definition for the word bed that was 229 words long!

Tom McArthur, who edited the Oxford Companion to the English Language, said that throughout history, there had never been such a strong movement to make language clearer as the Plain English Campaign.

Awards and Honours

Chrissie Maher has received many awards for her work:

• 1993: She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This is a special award from the British King or Queen for important achievements.
• 1995: She received an honorary MA degree from Manchester University. An honorary degree is given to someone who has done great things, even if they didn't study at that university.
• 1997: She received an honorary doctorate from the Open University.
• 2000: Chrissie, along with disability rights campaigner Lord Morris of Manchester and World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee, were named "Information Pioneers of the Century" by the UK's National Information Forum.
• 2010: She received an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University for her work in communication.
• 2010: She won "Public Affairs Achiever of the Year" and "Outstanding Achiever of the Year" at the 'Women in Public Life' awards.

See also

• Simple English Wikipedia
• Golden Bull Award