SO WHO’S YOUR INSPIRATION?
Launching this year’s Inspirational Women Awards, the uplifting stories of how previous winners are transforming so many lives ...
We ALL know them — the women who, when they see something wrong, don’t walk on by. They get stuck in and put it right. These are the ordinary women who end up proving they are totally extraordinary. And we are determined to recognise them — as the true role models of our age. That’s why today, we’re launching the Daily Mail’s Inspirational Women Of The Year Awards 2017, in association with LK Bennett.
Over the next four weeks, we want you to nominate special women from every walk of life: mothers, daughters, extraordinary teachers, nurses, an exceptional carer, or someone who’s changed their community for the better. Anyone who deserves a special honour.
Five finalists will be chosen to attend a black tie charity awards gala dinner on Tuesday, October 3, in support of YoungMinds, the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.
YoungMinds is one of eight UK charities that Heads Together, a campaign co-ordinated by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, has brought together.
Our winner will follow in a line of exceptional women, such as 2012 winner Shelley Gilbert, founder of the charity Grief encounter, which provides support for bereaved children and their families.
Watching her gently talk to a nine-year-old girl who lost her home, schoolfriends and the only life she’d known in the Grenfell Tower fire is awe-inspiring. The child is wracked by nightmares, which Shelley and her team of trained bereavement counsellors are helping her deal with.
As Shelley kneels down to examine the picture she’s painted of the tower in flames, the girl falteringly asks: ‘Mummy has told me my friend is missing. Where is she? Why won’t she come back?’
HEARTBREAKING words, but as Shelley tenderly opens up a conversation about death, the look of acceptance on the girl’s face is almost palpable.
‘We need to explain that bad things happen and people do die,’ says Shelley, 53. ‘Bereaved children have many questions which adults find hard to listen to. But if a child is old enough to ask, they’re old enough to hear the answers.’
It’s testament to the reputation of Grief encounter that it’s been called in to help these traumatised children. Since being named Inspirational Woman of the Year in 2012, Shelley has taken the charity, established in 2003, to a new level.
‘We were given a badge of trust,’ she says. People contacted the charity in droves, asking for help and volunteering.
Fundraising rocketed, too: they made £100,000 more than usual.
The charity also secured grants from the national Lottery, Lloyds TSB and Children In need. This enabled them to launch a Skype service for internet counselling.
Grief encounter now supports more than 400 bereaved children, young people and their families. The helpline supports more than 3,000 children annually.
Shelley was just four when her mother, Betty, died of breast cancer. Five years later, her father, Leon, died of a heart attack after reading Shelley her bedtime story. He was 52. Overnight, Shelley’s world collapsed.
Relatives — who gave Shelley a home — were swamped by their own grief. ‘no one spoke about what had happened,’ says Shelley. ‘It left me terrified that my family would die, too.’
It made her determined to build her own loving family — husband Michael, 55, and children Katie, 33, Daniel, 31, nick, 27 and Andrew, 20 — and to help other children.
Our 2013 winner, wedding planner naomi Thomas, has a very different goal: to fulfil the dreams of couples in love. Her charity, The Wedding Wishing Well Foundation, organises and funds weddings for terminally ill people and those with life-limiting illnesses.
And naomi, 35, had established the charity after being diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.
‘everyone has the right to marry the love of their life, but you don’t realise how important is it until you are told you are dying,’ says naomi, from Wellington, Somerset. ‘If you’re seriously ill, the chances are there’s no spare money and you don’t have the time or energy to organise a wedding.’
SINCE she won the award, the charity has gone from strength to strength. With the help of husband Graham, 38, a car sales manager, and a team of volunteers, naomi has funded 46 weddings.
She has also opened two wedding dress shops in exeter, stocking 700 donated dresses — many from Asos, Coast and Debenhams. The dresses are under £500 — money that is poured into the charity — and free to brides in need.
‘Winning the award made a huge difference,’ says naomi. ‘Until then, we were a tiny charity. Overnight, everyone had heard of us.’
All the while, naomi, who is mother to Devon, six, has been battling the breast cancer that has spread to her bones. Last year, she had a lumpectomy and she needs chemotherapy every fortnight. ‘It leaves me exhausted,’ says naomi. ‘But whatever time I have left, I’m determined to make a difference.
naomi is also ensuring families can build special memories. Families like emma and Jamie Tanner. The couple, from Bournemouth, married in May last year in front of their two young daughters and families. Just eight weeks later, Jamie died of cancer at 38.
‘It was a glorious wedding — and the most amazing thing was the huge smile on Jamie’s face,’ recalls naomi. ‘For the first time in months, he was out of pain — buoyed up by happiness.
‘emma was with him when he died. It must have been heartbreaking. But as she cradled him, she knew he was at peace. She had helped fulfil his dying wish — to get married — and she says that has been an enormous comfort. ‘
A few months ago, emma, 31, raised £1,600 for the charity, so other couples can experience the happiness she and Jamie enjoyed.
‘It still blows me away to think that my tiny idea — born of my own desire to get married when I knew I was ill — has had such an impact,’ says naomi, who was awarded the British empire Medal (BEM) last year in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours list.
When Lesley Henderson, 59, from Widdrington, northumberland, realised her youngest child, Toby, was autistic, she vowed to help him lead the fullest life he could.
not only that, but she determined to help other children, too. now, ten years after being named the 2007 Woman of Inspiration, Lesley runs a day centre for autistic children and their families.
Helping some 54 youngsters on a daily basis, it is quite simply the go-to place in the north-east of england for any family struggling with the complexities of autism.
‘The award instantly gave us credibility. People saw we had real expertise and our influence grew immeasurably,’ says Lesley, a divorcee and mum to Toby, now 23, and three older sons: Dan, 38, Alex, 26 and Josh, 24.
‘Toby was two when I realised he was different,’ recalls Lesley. ‘I will never forget that sense of desolation when you watch your child slip away from you. I set out to learn communication techniques, travelling to the U.S. in my quest.
‘Once I discovered how to help Toby, I knew I had to help other families, too.’
Though not well enough to work, Toby — a strapping and personable 6 ft 3 in — now lives independently near Lesley. Her charity, The Toby Henderson Trust, based in a farmhouse, has tripled the numbers who come through its doors.
‘It’s about supporting children who have just been diagnosed and need to find a voice,’ says Lesley who established the charity in 1999. ‘But the charity has grown as Toby has. We now support older people — such as the young man who came in last week for advice.
‘He’s very clever, but so petrified of meeting people that he carries cards in his wallet, reminding him to say things like: “How are you?” It’s tragic he’s suffered under this burden for so long when we know our help can be transformative.
‘We’ve had amazing success stories, like the boy who wouldn’t get out of the car when his parents brought him. now aged 20, he’s a successful racing car driver.’
Juliet Hope, 54, founder of the charity Startup, was grieving the sudden death of husband Christopher when she was named Inspirational Woman of 2011 for her work with female prisoners. Twin daughters Charlotte and Lucy nominated her.
‘The award and ceremony were a positive reinforcement — for all
involved with Startup — that life goes on and you should always look forward, whatever challenges you face,’ says Juliet, from Oxfordshire.
‘Charlotte and Lucy, now almost 16, still remember the celebrities they met, the magic of that night and the wonderful prize trip to New York and Disneyland.’
Most of all, the award has had a huge impact on Startup, which Juliet — a former City fund manager — established in 2006. A friend had asked her to investigate how much money ex-offenders would need to establish their own businesses. She realised they didn’t just need money, but ongoing advice and support.
‘The award had a huge impact on Startup. Its aim over the past ten years has been to help women who have been in prison turn their lives around, regaining confidence and financial independence by setting up a small business and reconnecting with family and the community.
‘The award increased opportunities and reinforced the message that everyone deserves a second chance. We are currently focused on a project called Breaking The Cycle, supporting more than 300 young women in Oxfordshire who are homeless and facing a raft of challenges.
‘They are truly inspirational, from a girl called Emily gaining an accountancy apprenticeship and moving from a hostel into her first home with her daughter to another, Lucy, launching her jewellery business, marrying and moving to her own home, all in one year!’
As director of NAPA — National Association for Providers of Activities for Older People — Sylvie Silver works tirelessly to improve conditions in care homes. ‘It’s all about bringing love and laughter,’ says Sylvie, 62, a former arts and drama therapist who won the award in 2009.
THE accolade catapulted NAPA to prominence. More than 500 care workers have taken its course on how to improve life for care home residents. Sylvie travels the UK helping homes to improve.
‘It’s about ensuring residents have a good quality of life — not just a good quality of care,’ says grandma Sylvie, who lives in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, with her retired husband John, 67.
‘I was at a home last week when the administrator appeared with the drinks trolley. It was 11am and she was serving pre-lunch sherry.
‘She does it every day. It’s her chance to chat to everyone. It gave me a big smile. That’s what it’s all about — ensuring older people are cherished by caring professionals.’
All in a day’s work for Sylvie, who, like all these women, is refreshingly modest — which is why it’s so important the tireless work of these heroes is celebrated and lauded.
It’s time to nominate the many others who make a daily difference to others’ lives. The Inspirational Women of 2017.