Jewish Care has joined the tributes to true East Ender and oldest Labour Party member Beatty Orwell, who died at her Tower Hamlets home aged 105.

Raised in Aldgate, Beatty took an early interest in politics, joining the stand against Oswald Mosley’s fascists in the Battle of Cable Street in 1936.

When husband John became Mayor of Tower Hamlets in 1966, Beatty was Mayoress and after John’s death in 1972 became a councillor in her own right.

Beatty joined Jewish Care’s Brenner Stepney Jewish Community Centre around 20 years ago.

In 2020, when her physical health prevented her from attending “the Club”, as she called it, friends, staff and volunteers stayed in touch, visiting Beatty at home, where her family took turns to be with her.

Beatty’s children June, Benny and Maureen said her passing was sad. “But how lucky we are to have had mum in our lives all this time. She worked hard all her life and along the way met the Queen at Buckingham Palace and had tea at 10 Downing Street and met then Prime Minister Harold Wilson. It really isn’t bad for a girl from Petticoat Lane.”

Jewish Care chief executive Daniel Carmel-Brown recalled “a truly remarkable person and a role model to us all. She was never afraid to stand up for what she believed in and to fight for others. She inspired an abundance of love, warmth and sense of community.”