Prominent member of the community, Edwina Rosenberg, has been awarded an MBE as part of the King’s Birthday Honours list.
Edwina Rosenberg has spent more than 60 years of her life volunteering at various organisations across Manchester, starting from when she was 16 years old. Many Prestwich residents will remember her for her colourful outfit, which she dressed put in both to raise money and to visit those who needed cheering up. A common get-up was a particularly beloved fictional nanny, which earned Edwina the
title of “Mary Poppins”, one which she is still greeted with to this day.
Receiving the letter informing her that she would be receiving the MBE back in May was a pleasant surprise: “My husband, who has vascular dementia and short term memory loss, handed me a letter which said Cabinet Office on it. I said: ‘Don’t worry darling, I wrote to the Prime Minister last October.’ I thought this was finally a reply. When I opened it, it was nothing to do with the letter and I was being awarded an MBE. I didn’t know anything about it and I was in tears. I was just stunned!”
With over 60 years of volunteering behind her in schools, nursing homes, and prisons, Edwina still regularly bumps into people she’s helped over the years: “About six years ago, I went into Curry’s as they were advertising a sale. I spoke to a sales assistant and he said: ‘Mary Poppins, you can have what you like!’ He was 31-years-old then, but he told me that when he was nine-years- old I came to Booth Hall Children’s Hospital and gave him a present, and it made his day. So he gave me free delivery and free removal of the old appliance. I thought that was wonderful!” When discussing the honours, Edwina took great pains to highlight that she wouldn’t have been able to make such a difference to the people she’s helped over the years without the organisations she volunteered at: “I am grateful to all those organisations, the schools, the hospitals, the nursing homes, that welcomed me. Because honestly, would I have gotten this award without then welcoming me? I’m grateful that they have made my life very meaningful.”
Although she is now housebound while taking care of her husband and due to her own disability, Edwin still dedicates a lot of her time towards others, often hosting Yom Tov meals and checking up on people over the phone: “I’ve still got a list. I spend an hour and a half on the phone to people who are on their own, who need someone to keep them amused. And my house has always been everybody’s house. If I can help someone else, that’s what makes me happy.”