10 amazing trailblazing women from Warrington

Warrington is home to many inspiring female figures both well-known internationally and treasured within the community.

Here is a list of some of the most inspirational women who made their mark on Warrington.

Mabel Capper

Renowned for her active campaigning as a suffragette during the early 1900’s, Mabel Capper was proudly Warrington’s first ever female journalist.

Starting her career as a young 10-year-old, Mabel edited a manuscript magazine before joining the Warrington Examiner in the year of 1907.

She became an extreme campaigner within the suffrage movement, often going on hunger strikes and being imprisoned several times for her protests to allow women to have the right to vote.

Wendy Parry

Wendy Parry started the Foundation For Peace centre in 1995 after her 12-year-old son Tim was killed in the Warrington IRA bombings in 1993.

The charity was set up in memory of her son and three-year-old Johnathan Ball who was also killed in the blast.

After being involved in a panorama documentary that took her and Tim’s father Colin to Northern Ireland to witness organisation working to find peace in the conflict, she was inspired to start the foundation with Colin and continue that work in Warrington.

She has been awarded an OBE for her work within the foundation.

Constance Harvey Broadbent

Constance Harvey Broadbent is remembered to this day for being the first female councillor to be elected in Warrington in the year of 1918.

During the First World War, Constance worked for the Red Cross at Raddon Court and the Whitecross Hospital before she was elected at the end of the war.

Born in Latchford, she served as councillor for nine years, alongside being involved in important charity work with associations such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and she was on the committee of the Naples Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Clare Roberts

Clare Roberts is the founder of Kids Planet nurseries, a successful national nursery chain with more than 100 sites across the country.

A Lymm resident, Clare initially opened up the first Kids Planet nursery in 2008 in Warrington after struggling to find flexible childcare following the birth of her daughter.

Her childcare empire is now renowned for its outstanding quality of care, having been placed number 1 in the country in 2021 according to Ofsted rankings.

Clare was recently awarded an OBE by late Queen Elizabeth II for her services to education, with the entrepreneur working with the DfE, Ofsted and other organisations to help improve areas of the sector.

Patti Bradshaw

Founder of The Shannon Bradshaw Trust, Patti Bradshaw started the charity in 2003 after dealing with the loss of her 7-year-old daughter Shannon.

She wanted to offer help and support to other families of sick children and over the years has successfully helped many throughout the North-West and further afield.

The charity’s funding enable families of children with life-threatening illnesses to experience funded trips away, as well as raising money for specific items that a child may need but a family cannot afford.

Patti’s continuous work within the foundation has left a profound mark on Warrington, where the charity is based, and the local families she has helped along the way.

Margaret Broadbent

Latchford born; Margaret Broadbent worked as a commandant of Raddon Court Red Cross Hospital during the First World War.

Her services to the Red Cross led to her being awarded one of the highest honours of an MBE.

During her extraordinary life she was also appointed as Justice of Peace in 1938.

Sue Johnston

An on-screen hero, loved for her role as Barbara Royle in the hugely successful British sitcom The Royle Family, Sue Johnston made her mark in TV on many well-known shows.

Born in Warrington in 1943, Sue trained as an actress at the Webber Douglas Academy in London before landing roles in popular shows such as Goodbye Cruel World, Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost.

But she is best known for playing Sheila Grant in Brookside and the iconic mother in The Royle Family, a sitcom based on a working-class family from Manchester.

Olivia Whitlam

The amazing Warrington rower, Olivia Whitlam, 37, held the proud title of Under-23 World Champion in 2007 She competed in the Beijing Olympics in the summer of 2008 with her new partner at the time, Louisa Reeve and having only been paired together for a few months before the games it was apprehensive that the pair high up.

But contrary to doubts the couple successfully finished in sixth place.

Olivia also competed in London 2012 Olympics as part of the women’s eight, in which the team finished fifth.

Lastly in 2010 she competed in the Rowing World Championships as part of the women’s eight and they just missed out on a top three finish.

Helen Horne

Stockton Heath-born businesswoman and proud owner of ‘Helen Horne Funeral Directors’, Helen has taken on a male-dominated industry and put her own spin on it, taking a more personal and empathy-led approach to the world of funeral directors.

Prior to starting her own successful funeral directors just over a year ago on Longford Street, Orford, Helen worked in the industry for over 10 years but decided families all over Warrington could benefit from her warm approach and despite raising three children, started her own branch.

‘Helen Horne Funeral Directors’ is now voted the third best funeral directors in Warrington and Helen continues to be an inspiration to women entrepreneurs.

Kathleen Dawson

The Great Sankey swimmer became the first woman from Warrington to win an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

The backstroke star struck relay gold along with fellow Warrington swimmer James Guy.