Claire Rayner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Claire Rayner
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| Born |
Claire Berenice Berkovitch (later Chetwynd)
22 January 1931 Stepney, London, England
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| Died | 11 October 2010 (aged 79) Harrow, London, England
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| Nationality | British |
| Education | City of London School for Girls |
| Occupation | Journalist, broadcaster, novelist, nurse |
| Years active | 1949–2010 |
| Spouse(s) |
Desmond Rayner
(m. 1957) |
| Children | 3, including Jay Rayner |
Claire Rayner (born Claire Berenice Chetwynd; January 22, 1931 – October 11, 2010) was a famous English journalist, broadcaster, and writer. She was also a nurse. Claire Rayner was best known for giving advice to people through her newspaper columns. She received an OBE award for her work.
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Claire Rayner's Early Life
Claire Rayner was born in Stepney, London. She was the oldest of four children. Her father was a tailor and her mother was a housewife. Claire went to the City of London School for Girls. In 1945, her family moved to Canada.
Claire Rayner's Career Journey
Becoming a Nurse
Claire returned to the UK in 1951. She trained to be a nurse in London. She studied at the Royal Northern Hospital and Guy's Hospital. Claire had planned to become a doctor. While training, she met Desmond Rayner, an actor. They got married in 1957. The couple lived in London. Claire worked as a midwife and later as a nursing sister.
Writing and Journalism
Claire started writing letters to Nursing Times in 1958. She wrote about nurses' pay and working conditions. Soon, she began writing regularly for The Daily Telegraph. Her articles focused on patient care and nurses' salaries. After her marriage, she also started writing novels. By 1968, she had published more than 25 books.
When her first child was born in 1960, full-time nursing became difficult. So, Claire focused on writing full-time. She wrote articles for many magazines and publications.
By the 1970s, Claire was writing for Woman's Own. She became known as a direct "agony aunt." This means she gave advice to people. Her advice in the teen magazine Petticoat was very honest.
In 1973, Claire started an advice column in The Sun newspaper. She also appeared on the TV show Pebble Mill at One. In 1980, she moved to the Sunday Mirror. She also had her own TV series called Claire Rayner's Casebook. Later, she joined the Today newspaper for three years. Claire was named medical journalist of the year in 1987.
Many people remember Claire as an agony aunt on TV-am. This was a TV channel in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She made it her goal to answer every letter she received. This was a big project that the TV station did not pay for.
In 1989, she was featured on the TV show This Is Your Life. She was surprised by the host, Michael Aspel.
Working as a Campaigner
Claire Rayner became the president of the Patients Association. This group helps people who are patients. She did a lot of charity work and wrote many articles. Because of her efforts, she received an OBE in 1996. This award was for her work in women's health and general health matters.
Claire had personal reasons for supporting some causes. She wore hearing aids and had a common sight loss condition called age-related dry macular degeneration (AMD). She supported Sense's campaign for older people.
From 1993 to 2002, Claire was a patron for the Herpes Viruses Association. She stepped down because she was a patron for 60 different organizations.
Claire was also part of UK government groups on health. She wrote a chapter in a book called The Future of the NHS. She was a member of the Prime Minister's Commission on Nursing. She also served on the Royal Commission on the Care of the Elderly. In 1999, Claire joined a committee that looked at medical care in Holloway Prison in London. Their suggestions led to big changes in healthcare at the prison.
Claire was a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party. However, she left in 2001 and joined the Liberal Democrats. She was worried about changes planned for the NHS. She also supported the idea of Britain becoming a republic.
Claire was a Vice-President of British Humanist Association. She was also a supporter of the Humanist Society Scotland and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
Claire Rayner's Personal Life
Claire met her husband, Desmond "Des" Rayner, at Maccabi in Hampstead. They got married in 1957. They had three children together. Their children are writer and food critic Jay Rayner, electronics reviewer Adam Rayner, and events manager Amanda Rayner.
In 2002, at age 71, Claire was diagnosed with breast cancer. She became an activist to promote the work of Cancer Research UK. She also had Graves' disease, a thyroid condition. She became a patron of the British Thyroid Foundation in 1994.
Claire had emergency surgery in May 2010 and never fully recovered. She passed away in the hospital on October 11, 2010. She told her family her last words should be a message about the NHS. She wanted to say that if anyone harmed the NHS, she would "come back and bloody haunt him."
