Jackie Millerchip, from Hinckley in Leicestershire, has been awarded the first ever ITV1’s Lorraine Inspirational Woman of the Year Award at the Women of the Year Lunch, which took place today at the InterContinental Hotel in London.
In September, Lorraine viewers were invited to nominate an inspirational woman in their lives, as part of a brand new partnership between the programme and Women of the Year.
The Lorraine production team selected a shortlist of entries from the nominees they considered best met the selection criteria. Each eligible shortlisted entrant was judged by a terrific panel: Lorraine Kelly, Baroness Helena Kennedy, President of Women of the Year, and Nina Barough, founder of Walk the Walk charity and a former ‘Women of the Year’ winner.
From the shortlist, the panel selected three inspirational finalists:
- Fiona Storer, 49, from in Newtownabby in Belfast was registered blind at 15. Since then she put herself through the University of Salford and qualified as a social worker. She currently works on a cross community project at the 174 Trust in Belfast helping young carers as well as her own two children.
- Gez Watson, aged 58, from Bognor Regis in West Sussex who has been nominated by her husband for her work in the local community. She has worked with the police, local authority and others to make the estate a better place for all ages to live.
- Jackie Millerchip, aged 46, from Hinckley in Leicestershire. Jackie is a childminder who looks after both able bodied and severely disabled kids.
Viewers were then invited to vote online for the women they felt deserved to win the award. The three women attended the Women of the Year Lunch in London today, where the winner was announced along with the winners of the four other special awards.
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