Mencap founder commemorated with Blue Plaque

The founder of a charity which supports people with learning disabilities to live full lives will be honoured with a Blue Plaque.

The accolade to Judy Fryd, who founded Mencap in 1947, will be put up on the house where she once lived in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

Fryd was prompted to act after no mainstream school in the 1940s was prepared to accept her daughter Felicity, who showed signs of developmental delay.

The Blue Plaque for the charity worker, who died aged 90 in 2000, is being provided by Historic England.

Fryd, whose first name was Caroline but was known as Judy, was born in north London in 1909.

She studied economics and political science at Ruskin Hall (now Ruskin College) in Oxford, where she met and married her husband John in1936, settling in Harpenden, where they raised four children.

When her eldest daughter, Felicity, showed signs of developmental delay, Fryd decided to teach Felicity at home, proving her daughter could learn to read, write and count.

Fryd then began to connect with other parents through the letters pages of The Nursery World magazine, writing under the pseudonym 'Cinderella'.

In November 1946, she formed an association that would in 1947 become Mencap.

The correspondence network based at Fryd's home, in Westfield Avenue, grew rapidly into a national movement.

By 1950, the association had established a formal national council.

During the 1950s, the organisation gave evidence to the Royal Commission on the Law Relating to Mental Illness and Mental Deficiency and put forward suggestions to the Mental Health Bill.

The Education Act 1970 later gave all children a legal entitlement to an education.

The charity received royal patronage in 1981, and in 2002, two years after Fryd's death, it officially adopted the name Royal Mencap Society.

It remains one of Britain's leading charities for people with a learning disability.

Fryd was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1967 and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996.

In 2009, she was honoured with a commemorative Royal Mail postage stamp.

Elly Downes, Judy Fryd's granddaughter, said: "We have always had to share her with Mencap and thousands of people with learning disabilities and their families - her other family and lifelong passion - and are honoured to have done so."

Jon Sparks, chief executive, Mencap, said "her legacy reminds us not only how far we've come, but how many barriers to equality, healthcare and employment still sadly remain".

Claudia Kenyatta of Historic England added: "This plaque celebrates the impact Fryd has had on society and the lives she has improved through her dedication and determination."

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