Diana Lamplugh OBE born Diana Elizabeth Howell (30 July 1936 – 18 August 2011) was a British charity founder and campaigner. After her adult daughter's disappearance, she and her husband, Paul, established a charity that became the leading resource for women in the UK who are being harassed.

Diana Lamplugh
Born
Diana Elizabeth Howell

30 July 1936
Died18 August 2011
NationalityBritish
EducationWestonbirt
Occupationcharity organiser
Known forestablished a charity for women who are being harassed
SpousePaul Lamplugh
ChildrenSuzy Lamplugh

Life

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Lamplugh was born in Cheltenham in 1936. She was an independent but not an academic child. She left Westonbirt, a private school in Gloucestershire, when she was sixteen having been told that she was destined to be a secretary.[1] Her father thought she could be an actor and taught her to project her voice. She didn't become an actor but the confidence of her voice was to be useful later.[2]

She married Paul Lamplugh and they had four children. Paul worked as a solicitor[2] and Diana and a business partner started a company called Slimnastics. She wrote a book about her idea.[3] In 1986 their second child Suzy Lamplugh disappeared. Suzy was an estate agent and she had gone to meet a client but she was never seen again.[2]

Suzy Lamplugh Trust

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The Suzy Lamplugh Trust[4] (a charitable foundation) was established in December 1986 by Lamplugh and her husband.[5] The mission of the Trust is to raise awareness of personal safety through training and various projects, to help people avoid becoming victims of aggression, and to offer counselling and support to relatives and friends of missing people. The Trust runs the UK's The National Stalking Helpline.[6]

Diana and Paul Lamplugh were appointed to OBE, in 1992 and 2005 respectively, for their charitable work with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.[2][7]

Death and legacy

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Lamplugh died in August 2011 at the age of 75 after a stroke in 2003 and several years with Alzheimer's disease.[2] Her husband Paul died aged 87 in June 2018.[7] The search for Suzy's body was still on-going in 2018 when a garden associated with her named killer was dug up by the police, who found nothing. By this time the Lamplugh charity was acknowledged as the leading resource for British women who were being harassed.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Pilkington, Sue (18 August 2011). "Diana Lamplugh obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Suzy Lamplugh's mother Diana dies after having stroke". BBC News. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  3. ^ Nottidge, Pamela; Lamplugh, Diana (1971). Slimnastics. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-046167-1.
  4. ^ "The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, registered charity no. 802567". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  5. ^ "Suzy Lamplugh: Father 'little hope left' after 30-year search". BBC News. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. ^ "National Stalking Helpline". Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  7. ^ a b Blewett, Sam (12 June 2018). "Suzy Lamplugh: Murdered estate agent's father dies". The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  8. ^ "The killing of Suzy Lamplugh affected a generation of women. Now it's back | Joan Smith". the Guardian. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2022.