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Merseyside Women of the Year 2024 – Celebrating Inspirational Women
The Community Foundation for Merseyside returns as sponsor of the Inspirational Women Award, and charity partner, at this year’s prestigious Merseyside Women of the Year Awards, to be held in Liverpool.
Rae Brooke, CEO, Community Foundation for Merseyside, commented,
“This is our fourth year being a sponsor in this category, and it really is a privilege to witness the talent, courage, and resilience, of women from so many different backgrounds, who are determined to succeed.
“We always look forward to this incredible event, and are thankful to Ellie Kerr, the founder, for building such a wonderful community and a supportive network, which continues to grow and flourish.”
Last year’s winner of this category was Claire Cathcart, the founder and chairperson of Team 1C, a charity dedicated to children born with congenital heart defects. Her oldest child, Jake, was born in 2015 with a very rare heart condition and has spent much of his life in hospital with Claire at his side. Claire decided to turn her situation into a positive by helping others.
She created Team 1C (named after ward 1C) with her friends from the hospital and created a community. Initially fundraising more than £100,000 for a range of charities, she has since registered Team 1C as a charity in its own right, expanding to offer support to families both here in the North West and in the developing world.
Runners up for the Inspirational Women Award were Heather Evans and June Russell, of the Halle O’Brien CIC. Through the most heart-breaking of circumstances, Heather Evans set up the Halle O’Brien CIC in 2020, in memory of her beautiful daughter Halle, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 19, after contracting a rare form of meningitis.
Halle’s Hub is a space for the Ford Lane community, focusing on supporting young, disadvantaged people. Heather and June, supported by their family, set up the CIC to keep alive Halle’s dream of helping children to learn and develop both socially and academically.
To find out more about the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards, to be held in June go to: