The inaugural East Midlands Women’s Awards took place at a glamourous celebration on Friday 10th October 2017 at the Falcon Hotel in the Host Town of Uppingham in Rutland highlighting and rewarding some of the region’s most influential Women.
The Prestigious Inaugural Awards – the first of its kind in the region – invited nominations from the general public, peers and colleagues for women who inspire them most, be that personally or professionally and across ten categories. Presenters were Rupal Rajani, herself a multi award winning presenter working for BBC Radio Leicester, and Maurice Flynn, senior journalist at BBC News and East Midlands Today.
Founder of the Award Sandra Pollock said, ‘The gala awards celebration brought together some of the highest achieving women from across the region to recognise and celebrate the diversity and excellence of their achievement and contribution to our economy, arts, innovation, community and many other areas.’
In addition, the awards pay tribute to men who have also made a difference to women’s development by creating opportunities, opening doors and ensuring that what women do is not forgotten or over looked.
The list of Awards and Winners on the night were:
- Outstanding Female Entrepreneur – Glynis Wright
- Outstanding Woman in Professional Services – Diane Beresford
- Outstanding Woman in Public Services – Emma Leech
- Outstanding Female Leader in a Market Town – Pamela Dalby
- Outstanding Woman with Community Impact – Emma Hallam
- Outstanding Woman in STEM – Professor Turi King
- Outstanding BME Leader – Sujata Barot
- Outstanding Woman in Art, Media & Music – Carol Leeming
- Outstanding Male Supporting Female Leaders – Adam Clarke
The winner of the overall East Midlands Inspirational Female Leader 2017 was Glynis Wright.
Three special awards presented on the night were:
- The Outstanding Creative Entrepreneur awarded to Hannah Dale. This nomination impressed the judges who felt that her achievement in creating and transforming a creative arts business from £1.00 per card to a £3 million a year business employing 20 staff in just 10 years. Judges felt
- This unusual achievement in the creative industry did not fit into any of the other categories and warranted special recognition.
- Two other individuals received Lifetime Achievement Awards in Supporting Women, these were:
- Ron Simpson BEM who over more than 40 years in public, community, enterprise and voluntary services has been the first create opportunities and open doors for women to advance, and
- Nirmala Bhojani, journalist, author, community, and activists.
The 100-strong guestlist raised £370 for the charities Healing Little Hearts and Equations.
Some comments from guests on the night were
‘EMWA 2017 was the place to be if you were somebody in your field. You felt valued because women were being celebrated and their impact on the world.’
‘It was great to see, and experience women being valued at this level.’
‘The diversity of the nominees and the people in attendance was one of the things that stood out for me.’
‘This spectacular event made all the women there feel special. Being in a room filled with such high achieving women was inspirational and motivating.’
Talks are already underway for the 2018 East Midlands’ Women’s Awards.
