Dame Esther Rantzen, Childline founder, dies aged 86

Dame Esther Rantzen, the broadcaster and founder of the children's charity Childline and the helpline Silverline, has died at the age of 86. She was known for her programme That's Life and was educated at North London Collegiate School in Edgware.

Broadcasting Career and Advocacy

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Dame Esther's decades-long career in broadcasting included campaigning on numerous issues. Her programme That's Life! achieved peak viewership of 20 million weekly, blending human interest stories with consumer advocacy. A notable episode featured Nicholas Winton, who rescued 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia during World War II. The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) acknowledged Dame Esther's significant role in bringing Sir Nicholas's story to global attention through the show. The AJR stated that Dame Esther holds a special place in the hearts of many members, particularly for her work in reuniting Sir Nicholas with the children he saved.

Born in 1940 into a Jewish family, Dame Esther began her television career in the early 1960s. She worked as a researcher on current affairs programmes before becoming a presenter. She met her future husband, Desmond Wilcox, who was head of her department, in the late 1960s. They married in 1977 and raised their three children.

Edgware Education and Hampstead Life

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Dame Esther was educated at North London Collegiate School in Edgware. Her family had strong ties to Hampstead, with her grandmother living in Maresfield Gardens and her parents born there. The family moved to a house in Hocroft Road when she was 12, and she continued to live in Hampstead until she was 25. Following her husband's death in 2000, she moved to a flat in Kidderpore Avenue and was involved in local Hampstead campaigns, including meeting elderly residents and objecting to planning applications. Her final interview with the Ham&High was in 2020, around the time she relocated to a cottage in the New Forest. She is survived by her three children.