{"id":89,"date":"2026-03-08T19:21:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=89"},"modified":"2026-03-08T19:21:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:21:43","slug":"womens-awards-offer-chance-to-be-a-role-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/?p=89","title":{"rendered":"Women’s awards offer ‘chance to be a role model’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women who are helping their communities with everything from support for neurodiversity to tackling fly-tipping say they hope to be positive role models.<\/p>\n

The West Northants Inspirational Women Awards coincided with International Women’s Day on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Nominee Diane Johnson, who set up EnFold Autism Support in Northampton, said: “It’s really lovely that people are being recognised for their journeys: it’s offering a chance to use that experience and be a kind of role model.”<\/p>\n

Photographer Khandie Rees added: “International Women’s Day is an opportunity to highlight talents of all women – but also to understand that women everywhere should be celebrated regardless of what lifestyle they choose.”<\/p>\n

The annual awards, organised by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), hope to “shine a spotlight on women who lead with integrity, break down barriers and create opportunities for others.”<\/p>\n

Johnson said her own journey was “really tricky” as her autism diagnosis had not come until adulthood.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t get the support that I needed, which led to enduring mental health issues.<\/p>\n

“It’s important people know that, just because you have those adverse experiences as a child, it doesn’t define who you are.<\/p>\n

“I think when you get the support, when you understand who you are, then that enables you to shine,” she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Also shortlisted were friends Julia, Ann and Mandy, whose initials formed the name of their project “JAM – Helping Out”.<\/p>\n

“We are literally just three ladies who help in the local community voluntarily,” said Ann Brebner.<\/p>\n

The group has raised \u00a340K by launching events and supporting local charities.<\/p>\n

“We are part of the local community that we want to make an impact in.<\/p>\n

“We have networking events, fundraising events, we will turn our hand to almost anything to help the community.”<\/p>\n

She said it was not just about raising money but also “raising awareness”.<\/p>\n

“These smaller charities do not have a marketing team, so we like to show as much as possible about them and what they do on social media.”<\/p>\n

Brebner said the awards “mean so much to be recognised”, although that was not their motivation.<\/p>\n

“We do it for the impact that we have on the local community and we love what we do, but we also realise that what a role model we are to other females out there in the community and beyond – and that’s really important to us too,” she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rees has used her skills to run free photography workshops for children in care, people with disabilities and retired or older adults.<\/p>\n

The podcaster also documents fly-tipping and has seen her videos going viral.<\/p>\n

“As I work more with the community, I noticed how fly-tipping really impacts people and their feelings about the area.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to highlight it, because when you look at it individually, it’s not a massive issue, but collectively, it’s huge. <\/p>\n

“If you’re less able-bodied, people sometimes cannot get onto the pavement because of the rubbish.”<\/p>\n

Regarding the award, she said: ” I’m just doing what a lot of people are already doing. Like the fly-tipping, the Wombles [litter pickers] are already out there doing it.<\/p>\n

“I’m just using my knowledge of photography and videography to push it further.<\/p>\n

“I know it’s really cheesy to say that, but I’m just doing what I’ve always done and someone’s noticed,” she added.<\/p>\n

Follow Northamptonshire news on <\/em>Sounds<\/em>, <\/em>Facebook<\/em>, <\/em>Instagram<\/em> and <\/em>X<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

More on this story <\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Why does International Women’s Day matter?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Related internet links <\/h2>\n
      \n
    • JAM – Helping Out<\/li>\n
    • West Northamptonshire Council<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Women who are helping their communities with everything from support for neurodiversity to tackling fly-tipping say they hope to be positive role models. The West Northants Inspirational Women […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/90"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parkmania.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}