Rose Paterson Trust website is launched
A trust has been set up in memory of Rose Paterson , chairman of Aintree Racecourse and wife of north Shropshire MP Owen Paterson.
The Rose Paterson Trust has been founded in honour of the 63-year-old, who took her own life in June.
Her family, who have launched the trust to raise awareness of suicide and to raise funds for charities helping to prevent suicide said that while her death has made the world an infinitely worse place, perhaps through their work, her story can be a source of inspiration and hope one day.
Mr Paterson said he and his family were proud to launch the website rosepatersontrust.com and were looking forward to the formal launch on April 10 at Aintree Racecourse.
"If we can help save just one family from the agony of suicide, this initiative will have been worth it," he said.
As well as raising funds for suicide prevention projects the family says it will campaign for national policy changes to reduce the frequency of suicide.
"She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and sister, amongst many other things. She was kind and gentle. Animals were instinctively drawn to her. She was charming and beautiful. She was amazingly well-read. She was loved.
"We now know that Rose was deeply troubled, to a degree that we could never have imagined. Behind the scenes of what was on many levels a happy, fulfilling life, she was struggling to cope and desperately needed help. Tragically, she felt she couldn't ask for that help, and no-one even knew she needed it.
"The Rose Paterson Trust aims to support those in need through fundraising and policy change. It has been born out of the immense pride Rose’s family have in her and the depth of their despair at facing life without her.
"We just want to make her proud."
