Winners of the Women of Achievement Awards

25 November 2009

The winners of the The Women of Achievement Awards were announced at a gala ceremony held at Phyllis Court Club on Thursday 19 November. The categories included Care/Community, Arts, Recreation, and Education/Enterprise, as well as recognition for overall Lifetime Achievement.

The evening which was sponsored by Invesco Perpetual was a great success. Guests enjoyed a champagne reception, 3 course dinner and awards ceremony. During the night, music was provided by local Jazz Band The Supper Club, as well as classical singer Leonie Cormack who was accompanied on the piano by Sue Ledger, winner of the Arts category. Magician Lee Florida, entertained the guests performing his spectacular magic tricks throughout the night.

The winners are as follows:

Winner of the Care/Community category - Angela Lee MBE from Reading, Berks.
Angela is the Founder and CE of The Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust. She was inspired to set up the Trust while working as a nurse on the paediatric trauma ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. The Trust is now one of the UK’s leading safety charities, committed to reducing the number of children killed and injured in cycling accidents. Amazingly Angie manages to combine running a national charity with a full-time nursing career, caring for children.

Winner of the Arts category - Sue Ledger from Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Sue was a full time GP in Wallingford until she decided to leave in 1999 to pursue a career in music. Sue founded the Wallingford Children’s Choir and later on the Wallingford Singers.
Both these choirs are heavily involved in raising funds for less fortunate groups. They have raised £1,000 towards a vehicle in India and recently £3,000 for Water Aid and the Alzheimers Society.
Sue also takes part in musicals with the Sinodun Players as Musical Director and most recently was Musical Director for The Railway Children, performed by the Musical Theatre Company.

Winner of the Recreation category - Madge Morgan from Carterton in Oxfordshire (who was unable to attend)
Madge took up lawn bowls in 1967 when she was starting to go blind. Blind lawn bowls is played with the help of a sighted assistant who describes where the bowls should finish. With her husband Mel they were the oldest medal winners at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta and in 2007 at the age of 83 she was awarded an MBE after winning Golds for England in numerous championships including the disabled World Championships. Madge was also Awarded an ‘Exceptional Citizen Award’ in her home town of Carterton.

Winner of the Education/Enterprise category - Nyasha Gwatidzo from Ludgershall, Buckinghamshire
Nyasha is one of the most successful black businesswomen/social entrepreneurs of her generation, originating in Zimbabwe, now based in the UK. As the founding Director of Banya, a fostering agency in the UK, she has created a multimillion pound business devoted to improving the lives of children and young people, especially those who end up in foster homes. Nyasha also set up the Vana Trust in 2004, to continue supporting children in Africa and runs a farm near Oxford to help disadvantaged children (often with behavioural and emotional problems) in the UK through horticultural therapy.

Winner of the Overall Lifetime Achievement category - Elaine Louks from Sonning Common, Oxfordshire
Elaine is a familiar figure pushing an old, but immaculate Silver Cross pram around Sonning Common. She has tirelessly fostered 70 babies in the last 20 years and when asked how she coped with parting from them she replied ‘The joy on the face of a couple who can’t have a baby, when they meet the baby that is going to be theirs is reward enough’.

Liza Upton, Event Fundraiser at Sue Ryder – Nettlebed Hospice, said, “There was a wonderful atmosphere and the evening was a great success. People were moved to tears after hearing the stories of all the fabulous nominees. It was truly an inspirational night.”

Liza added, “We raised a fantastic amount of money which will help us continue to deliver quality and expert care to people living with serious illnesses, as well as their families and loved ones, in our area. We would like to thank all our sponsors: Invesco Perpetual, the Henley Standard, Charlton House Catering Services Ltd and Peter Green, for all their support and involvement in this special event.

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