Inspirational Welsh Women celebrated at national awards

An awards ceremony recognising the achievements of some of Wales’ most remarkable women has seen honours bestowed on women from across the nation.  

The Chwarae Teg Womenspire Awards 2022 was back with a bang last night (29.9.22), with a hybrid ceremony for the first time ever! After two years online due to the pandemic, the event took place at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay, whilst being streamed across ITV Cymru Wales’ Facebook Live and Twitter.   

A real celebratory occasion, Womenspire showcased the achievements of its finalists – remarkable women from all walks of life, who have made incredible differences to their own lives and the lives of others. 

The biggest winner on the night was Emily Nicole Roberts from Pontarddulais who, as a young woman with cerebral palsy, has taken it upon herself to inspire, educate and support others living with disabilities. She received the Rising Star Award as well as the overall title of Womenspire Champion 2022 having impressed the judges with advocacy work and her humorous and informative YouTube videos.  

Emily started recording herself when she realised that there was a lack of practical information readily available for disabled people. She set about making ‘how to’ films which show disabled people that they can do everything that able-bodied people can. 

Presented by Andrea Byrne of ITV Cymru Wales and Welsh actor and presenter Elin Pavli-Hinde, the ceremony was able share inspirational stories and share news of the all the women’s accomplishments with a wide audience. 

Headline sponsored by Vauxhall Finance, other Womenspire winners were follows: 

Community Connector award – sponsored by Mencap Cymru: Sophie Hinksman (Saundersfoot) – A tireless campaigner who has been very active in the field of self-advocacy and the rights of people with learning disabilities for many years – seeking to address the inequalities they face.  

Entrepreneur award– sponsored by Development Bank of Wales: Maggie Ogunbanwo (Penygroes) – Maggie, born in the UK but brought up in Nigeria, is living her dream having founded Maggie’s An African Twist to Your Everyday Dish® in Penygroes.  She is a key part of her community in North Wales and supports businesses in her area and lifts other women up. 

Gender Equality Champion award – sponsored by Academi Wales: Sarah-Jayne Bray (Port Talbot) – Chair of the Gender Equality network at South Wales Police, Sarah-Jayne works tirelessly to ensure that equality and diversity are at the forefront of her organisation. 

Community Champion – sponsored by Tiny Rebel: Zarah Kaleem (Newport) – As a young woman from an ethnic minority background who has a learning disability, Zarah has worked hard to deliver training and awareness to schools and businesses after experiencing the discrimination and judgement. 

Leader award – sponsored by Business in Focus: Siân Morgan (Carmarthen) – Siân is responsible for transforming lives in communities across Wales, as Chief Executive of Hafan Cymru – a charitable housing association that provides accommodation, support to women, men, their children and young people.  

Learner award – sponsored by The Open University in Wales: Celsey Janes (Swansea) – Celsey left school with few qualifications, however, after completing the Chwarae Teg Agile Nation 2 career development programme, she is now leading a team of 24 cleaners at Thrive Group Wales – a social enterprise which supports Thrive Women’s Aid (a domestic violence charity).  

Rising Star award – sponsored by Target Group: Emily Nicole Roberts (Pontarddulais) – As a woman with cerebral palsy, Emily has taken it upon herself to inspire, educate and support others living with disabilities, all with a huge amount of positive energy.   

Woman in Health and Care award – sponsored by HEIW: Kelly Clewett (Prestatyn) – A District Nurse Team Manager who manages a team of 29 district nurses, delivering nursing care in patients’ own homes. She is also the Community Resource Team Lead supporting district nurses and social services to work closer together. 

Woman in Sport award – sponsored by Sport Wales: Vera Ngosi-Sambrook (Cardiff) – A relative newcomer to cycling, in 2021 Vera was awarded the Ultra Distance Scholarship aimed at increasing representation of people from Ethnic Minority communities into the Pan Celtic Race. 

Woman in STEM award – sponsored by the ABPI: Katherine Axten (Caerphilly) – Working as one of the only female DevOps engineers in a large company, Katherine has overcome an enormous amount of prejudice and discrimination to become the very skilled and successful software engineer she is today. 

FairPlay Employer award (for a business or organisation) – sponsored by Hodge: The Open University in Wales – The organisation is inclusive, innovative and responsive with a commitment to equality and equity embedded in all it does. 

Cerys Furlong, Chief Executive, Chwarae Teg, said: “This is our seventh Womenspire awards and once again it has been fantastic to hear the stories of all our finalists and to celebrate their achievements. I must congratulate all the finalists, winners and everyone involved in making Womenspire 2022 a tremendous success.” 

“Emily Nicole’s place as Womenspire Champion reflects the immense challenges she has faced and the fact that, through her own determination to create resources for others, she is enabling them to overcome barriers and live life to the max. And it’s always done with a huge smile and infectious laugh. Anyone and everyone should watch her films and learn!”