Dr Marakatham Venkataraman
WPH WELCOME DR MARAKATHAM VENKATARAMAN
Dr Marakatham Venkataraman joined the Board of Trustees of WPH in 2014 and is now the new Chairperson of the WPH Charitable Trust.
A retired paediatrician from Nuneaton she did her paediatric training at UHCW and Birmingham Childrens Hospital.
In 1997 she was appointed as an acute general paediatrician to George Eliot Hospital with sessions at UHCW.
She has been a College Tutor in paediatrics, a Clinical Tutor for GEH and undergraduate educational supervisor and careers advisor for the West Midlands Deanery.
She was also the named doctor for child safeguarding both at GEH and later at Leicester Royal Infirmary, when she joined the paediatric team in 2013.
Dr Venkataraman says “I was really honoured to be invited to join the Board of Trustees at WPH. I was delighted to find that it operated as a very supportive environment, allowing free and easy challenge with the aim of helping as many people as possible, aiming to be both discerning and inclusive. There is an eclectic mix of skills, abilities, and personalities on the board which allows diligent management of charity funds and informed consideration of applications.
The applications and the people behind them have been inspiring. I see that people deal with the harshest adversities and challenges that life throws at them and it is truly humbling not only to see the strength people show in such circumstances, but also to be able to do something, however small, to help them.
Over the last 20 months, Covid has hit hard the communities and charities that WPH serves. The nature of the applications has changed, with a much larger proportion of the applications requesting smaller amounts of money, from individuals, or from the organisations directly helping them. This reflects the extraordinary hardship that has been imposed on so many by the pandemic.
It has often been painful to read through some of the applications, ranging from sums under £100.00 for life’s necessities, carpets, a cooker or washing machine, for displaced families even a cupboard for storing medical equipment safely, up to larger amounts for powered medical equipment, or home modifications. The resilience of many applicants is astounding to me. Their thank you letters are heart-warming. I am genuinely grateful to be part of WPH and hope to not only continue its good work but to try and ensure it reaches more and more individuals in need.”
