March 17, 2025 • 34 mins
The #NPWAwards isn’t just one night—it’s a movement that keeps growing, inspiring, and driving change every single day.
In this special episode, we catch up with some of our incredible 2025 winners and commended to hear what the awards have meant to them, their organisations, and the communities they support.
Joined by Natalie from Nuvo Wellbeing, Kirsty from DWF Law, Afra from Savera UK, Julie from Digital Voice for Communities, Susan Mulholland, Catherine Millan, Juliet Sanders, Jo Clarke, and Kayleigh Laverick from Mamma Social Co, we explore:
💡 How they described the #NPWAwards experience
🏆 The meaning of winning—for them, their teams, and the causes they champion
🎉 The emotions of the night—tears, shock, and even screaming in the car on the way home!
🕺 Dancing around the trophy bag to keep it safe (priorities, right?)
🚗 The unexpected trophy tour—because when you win, everyone wants to celebrate!
🚽 The moment of realisation… even if they were in the toilet when their name was announced!
🌍 The awareness the awards have brought to their work, making an even bigger impact
✨ The reminder that you never know where that first step will take you
This episode is packed with powerful stories, unforgettable moments, and proof that the #NPWAwards is more than just a ceremony—it’s a celebration of real people making real change.
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to a special edition of the we Are Power
podcast and we are going to betalking to some of our amazing
winners and commended of theNorthern Power Winner Awards
2025.
With our co-headline partnersBarclays and Bank of America,
we've held two drop-in sessionsto have conversations and chats
and hear about the storiesbehind some of our winners and
(00:31):
commended.
Let's get started.
Miss Natalie, over in the NorthEast, the North East had a good
night, didn't they?
On Thursday night, I think.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yes, there was lots of people in the room that we
knew, lots of people that havemessaged since, that were saying
that they were cheering for usin person as well.
I did hear a few when I got onthe stage and I was like who's
that?
And they've messaged me.
So, yeah, lots of people fromthe North East in the room.
It was really nice to see,definitely.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I had Amar Mirza on the table next to me and every
he kept going it's more from thenortheast, there's more from
the northeast, and I'm like theyget everywhere.
It was a good night.
It was a shame the wonderful uh, kim McGuinness, couldn't be
with us.
Uh, she was poorly recoveringfrom appendicitis the day before
.
Um, we sent her her best, butwhat does it feel like?
We only saw you over in thetune just before Christmas,
(01:20):
didn't we, um, and so it waswonderful to see you on that
stage on Thursday yeah, I meanwe're we're thrilled, we're all
thrilled.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Like everyone has said, I think we were shocked as
well.
Um, I think it was just like itwas really nice for us as well,
because it was like a fullcircle moment for us.
Um, myself and Millie were theones who accepted the award, but
we used to be new roleparticipants when we were
children, so it was just it'snice that we've been able to
(01:49):
develop and grow with thecompany, and I think that shows
the work that NUVO does do andthe impact that it has on the
people we work with that wecould be up there celebrating
and celebrating on behalf ofBethany as well, our founder,
who used to be our dance teacher100%, and Bethany has been
nominated in probably the earlyyears of Northern Powering
Awards as well.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Tell me what your three words are.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I would say thrilled for the first one, motivated to
do even more and grateful aswell to be have been recognised
as our micro organisation atsuch a big event.
It's so prestigious and lot ofpeople have already got in touch
and celebrated with us.
So lots of good things already.
It's not even been a week yet,so definitely better things to
(02:34):
come as well it's an amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
It's a beautiful full full circle story, isn't it?
Now?
The trophy we know has made itto the northeast, but it was
touch and go after that, aftershow party, right.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, lots of dancing , lots of trying to protect the
bag as we were dancing.
A lot of people dancing aroundthe bag as well.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
That's what Emma said today.
She was really.
When you speak to Natalie, shewas.
I literally watched themdancing around the bag.
That's proper old school disco,that Natalie.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, it had to be protected, but it made it back
up and now it's on on the on thewindowsill in our office for
everyone to see.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
So it's nice and safe now it's amazing, and what I
love to see is we'll catch upwith you later on.
We'll see you at the.
We'll invite all of you to bejudges, which I always think is
a great thing.
Every year we get the chanceand you'll sit in that room
going oh my goodness, did youtalk about us like that?
We're like yep, that's exactlyhow it works so really excited
to get you involved in thejudging.
(03:33):
I want to just send you a big,massive congratulations again.
It is the highlight of thewhole team's year.
It's hard work, as you know,but the hard work is nothing in
comparison to the hard work thatall, each and every one of you
and your teams do to make adifference every day.
Kirsty, DWF, Law, winners ofour large organisation how did
(03:58):
you feel?
Oscar-esque, I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Elated, privileged to be among such big names,
surprised, although we had donea lot, everyone's done a lot in
that room, so it was, it was ashock to say, but we were so
over the moon, and it wasexactly what we need.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Oh no, I'm thrilled for that.
Tell us a little bit about DWFLaw, what you do, what you're,
what you're proud of, because,like you just said, you do a lot
.
You know you do a lot, but sodoes everybody.
But tell us what you do.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
So we're a leading global provider of integrated
legal and business services.
So we're across 26 countriesand we run across three
different sectors legal services, insurance services and legal
operations.
So we do a lot of tech thatsupports the legal solution.
So it's not just a bunch oflawyers, it's a bit more than
(04:52):
that and we have about four anda half thousand people, edging
up towards 5000 at the moment.
So quite hard to corral.
But the ESG and sustainabilitystrategy, which incorporates our
DE&I strategy, is somethingthat's global because we align
it to the sustainabledevelopment goals and it's
something that we can all reallyget behind.
(05:13):
And it's very differentdepending on the locations that
we're in, but it is driven fromManchester, which is our head
office and where we started.
We started in Liverpool andManchester, so the majority of
people be about two and a halfthousand in those two offices.
So, and that's that's where wesupercharge everything but then
get it out and elsewhere.
(05:34):
So so proud of the fact that wewe run from the north, but we
run globally and it's trulyglobal, global.
And you know, it was delightedto see the questions that you
had in relation to the categoryof what do you do around the
sustainable development goals.
So it was like well, actuallywe've got this big campaign on
sustainable development goals,so that was wonderful.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It was like it was written for you, kirsty.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
That week it was.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
And I don't think I've ever had anyone on the
podcast before.
Use the word discombobulated.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I nearly didn't get that out, so I nearly didn't use
it either, kirsty.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Congratulations DWF Law.
We look forward to catching up.
Oh, afra, welcome andcongratulations, severa UK.
So excited to see you up there.
How does it feel?
Speaker 3 (06:21):
give me your three words yeah, it's, uh, it's, it's
been like absolutely my threewords, probably on the night was
shocked because I had to lookdown twice and say was that?
Was that us really um,speechless, um and proud, um to
(06:44):
get this prestigious award?
I did have a big scream on myway home from the car driving
because I came on my own,because we couldn't bring some
of the team.
I had a bit of a scream in themotorway going back to Liverpool
.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Please tell me that was safe, afra, please tell me,
that was safe.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
No, it was safe.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
It was.
It was, yeah, it was.
Tell us a little bit for thosepeople who are not aware.
I know the wonderful NazirAfzal OBE is one of your patrons
and he spoke on the evening.
He's an amazing human.
We're very blessed to have himin what we do Tell.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
very blessed to have him um in what we do.
Tell us, tell us about the workthat you are thankfully doing
so severe.
Uk is a national uh based inmerseyside.
Uh charity established in 2010and the reason was um.
I found the charity yourself andother members is because there
was no um.
(07:46):
Nothing was um kind of workingto end honor-based abuse and
harmful practices.
There was no data, there was nouh service to help those who's
at risk um, so it was a quitelong challenge in terms of risk
(08:09):
um.
So it was a quite longchallenge in term of um wanted
to, if anybody at risk.
So I made it on myself toestablish an organization just
to raise awareness.
I never knew, really, that itwill come to where it is today
and the aim of it is to end onthe base to be used for um, for
good um and um.
The part of it is to provide aservice to those at risk um and
(08:32):
then the threat of on a base tobe used in harmful practices
like forced marriage, childmarriage, um on a base to be
used female gender mutilation,convention therapy, and then the
other part is aroundcampaigning in terms of policy
change, in terms of training andeducation, in terms of raising
(08:56):
awareness in terms of communityengagement what.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
What does it mean to the team?
When you were shouting to theteam from the motorway safely,
we hazard um what.
What does it mean to them?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
yeah, I think it's that recognition, because as a
small charity sometimes it'sreally hard.
So by seeing that and beingrecognized that our work is
really important afro what isnext for you?
I think, as a, as a smallcharity, as we just started, and
I think our dream is quite bigand our mission is very, very
(09:31):
big as well.
Our mission is to have a worldwithout honour based abuse and
harmful practices.
But we feel a step at a timefrom five years ago started with
just three staff to five yearslater been working really hard
to bring our staff into a 15member of the team.
So myself and the board are nowwe're looking at where our next
(09:57):
stage is.
It's just ensuring thatsustainability, but also how do
we expand to the northwest,because we know this issues it's
still a huge gaps withinservices and how can we make
sure we we reach out as manypeople as possible through our
campaign, through our education,but also having services within
(10:22):
the northwest that deal withthese?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
well, I'm dafra.
Massive congratulations to youand your small yet mighty team.
It's phenomenal, the workyou're doing, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Now I'm delighted to introduceJulie Nicholson, who is the
winner of the InclusiveInnovation Award.
Julie, welcome Welcome to thepodcast.
I know you're not feeling toowell.
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
I know you're not feeling too well.
I still feel proud anddelighted and and I was I was
surprised on the night.
To be honest, I was with Susanbecause she she works with us as
well and, uh, she had to giveme a nudge because I just didn't
quite believe it.
She's like you.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
I love the little as we know.
We get you all to write likelittle bios or little sort of um
, and you talk about show theworld, tell the world, change
the world.
Digital voice works withparticipants often excluded from
digital media.
I love that.
Show the world, tell us, tellus what digital voice is, what
you do thank you.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
So, yes, we help people to use creative digital
media, to have a voice aboutthings, to be creative.
Susan, as you know, is anamazing creative writer and
empowers young women andchildren.
She's going to go into a schoolfor us today to prep for
(11:42):
working with some children.
They're going to do somecreative writing that will be
used in a soundscape for theNational Trust.
It's their Blossoms Festivalcoming up and there's going to
be an amazing video installationat the Hancock the Great North
Museum in Newcastle soon, and sowe're creating the soundscape
for that.
(12:02):
So we work with um amazing filmand media professionals from
across the northeast to to bringthat to people, so to give them
the opportunity to, to getinvolved with things like that
and also to have a voice aboutreally important issues and try
and make a difference I love it.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I love the whole concept of the soundscape.
Now tell me where is yourlovely piece of art?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
no-transcript um well , not to be unmodest, but it's
on our awards shelf, but it'sright in the middle absolutely,
julie.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Thank you, uh, thanks so much for joining us.
Please get well and lookforward to seeing you.
And congratulations, susan, um,congratulations, tell us, tell
us what.
Tell us in a nutshell, if youcan yeah, it's um.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
So I've only been um freelance for four years.
So I lost my full-time job, um,due to the pandemic I worked
for in a theatre company, um,but it was.
I worked there a long time, um,and it felt like the universe
was going hey, those things thatyou've been thinking about
doing, maybe you could do themnow, um, so I've kind of built
(13:18):
up a sort of, I guess, aportfolio of work.
So my work as a writer meansthat I write plays.
That's how I started in thetheatre industry, um, I also
write copy and content and, asJulie says, I've um, I
facilitate other people'screativity through writing, um,
(13:39):
and that's, I think, gettingthis recognition, this
commendation in a way, has kindof like packaged it for me.
Like you know, when you do Idon't know what other people on
the call, if you do lots ofdifferent things and you kind of
have to condense it and go likeI do about 15 different things,
but I need to be able to say,especially on LinkedIn, I need
to be pithy, particularly as awriter um, this, this
(14:02):
empowerment champion sort ofit's almost like, it feels like
it is the, the USP.
It's the thing that inspires meto do what I do.
I love working with youngpeople, primarily young girls in
the Northeast, and getting themto primarily see themselves a
bit differently and expand theirhorizons and see that
(14:26):
creativity isn't a thing thatjust happens to some people,
like artists, like that visualcreativity that you could see,
but that it's a way of problemsolving, it's a way of thinking.
It's a way of thinking it's,it's just a human trait.
So I try and remind them thatthey are creative and and how
powerful a force it is.
So I wasn't pithy at all.
(14:46):
There was, do you know what?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
you.
You've got accommodation.
Who cares?
Like Susan, tell, give me thosethree words that you well can
you do three words.
Or are Susan give me thosethree words that you well can
you do three words?
Or are you going to give me 30?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Who knows, I'm going to try Give me three.
So definitely pride.
I think excited.
Like I felt excited on thenight, I still feel excited now
and I'm going to say emboldened,which I feel is like if you put
empowerment and brave together.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Susan, thank you so much uh for joining me uh today.
Catherine, catherine, I thinkyours is one of the the most
emotional uh responses on thenight.
Um, because you weren't goingto come were you at one point.
Speaker 8 (15:29):
No, because I, my mum , had actually been in hospital
and she literally came out theday before, but she was just
like just go, I'll be fine.
So it was a bit hit and miss,really, and even being honest, I
just wasn't expecting to.
I wasn't expecting to win, Iwasn't expecting to do it.
(15:50):
I was so shocked.
Throughout the whole process Iwas like, oh, I've got through
this, but oh, it's fine, I won'tmake the.
So, yeah, it was just acomplete shock, to be honest oh,
and tell us what.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
What are your three words?
Speaker 8 (16:04):
um, so I've got pride .
Um, happy and motivated.
I don't.
I think with motivated it'smore around like being given,
like the person with purpose.
I think it just gave me thatmassive boost that I've needed
at this stage of like being anentrepreneur, because it's so,
(16:26):
it's, it's like a roller coaster.
Um, I was saying to my team, itjust came at the right time
when there'd been so manyhurdles, and then now I'm like.
The next day, I was literallylike right, okay, what are we
doing?
Let's go out again like.
I think, yeah, motivated, it'slike the one word that mainly
stands out, because it wasdefinitely.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
It was like the boost that I needed tell us, tell us
what, what you do and what youdrive, and what you're going to
drive more of yeah, so be what.
Speaker 8 (16:54):
Byc Consultancy is a equity, diversity and inclusion
training company, but wespecialize in workplace
discrimination prevention.
So essentially I go into theboth private and public sector
and I create training programsin areas of being an active
bystander, anti-racism, lgbtinclusion and neurodiversity
(17:18):
awareness, and we do training toboth adults and young people,
and some of our clients includepremier league football clubs,
nhs trust universities andschools across the northwest wow
, amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Now tell me you've shared with your team.
Where is your trophy now?
Speaker 8 (17:38):
my trophy is actually here next to me.
It's gone on a bit of a tour.
Everyone's everyone's been likeoh, can you bring the?
I think they're more excited tosee the trophy than me.
So no, it's being by my side,because, yeah, I've been.
Um, just people have like beenmessaging me, like wanting to
(17:59):
meet up, take me for coffee andsay thank you.
So I've actually got a dinnertonight back home.
Um, in liverpool, look at that,look at that today, and um,
yeah, so yeah, I feel like we'relike taking it on tour
everywhere and everyone's like,oh, let me see it.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Oh, I love that.
Thank you so much for droppingin today.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Thank you, juliet, you've beenbilled as a legend Welcome.
Speaker 9 (18:27):
I don't know about that.
I mean, the legends come withage.
I think that might be myExperience.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Age is just a number.
Juliette, your three words,Juliette.
Speaker 9 (18:38):
I think, for the night.
Glamorous because here I amsitting in a warehouse at the
moment.
My life isn't very glamorous,so, you know, it's just such a
great experience to sort ofshare in that.
Inspirational because therewere just so many amazing
stories, amazing women, and notjust the people who won awards,
but the people sitting on thetables that we talked to on the
(19:01):
way in and out.
Um, and, I think, connected aswell.
Um, connected is a reallyimportant word for me because I
think, where I've come from,it's felt very isolated at times
, that sometimes you're in yourgroove, doing your thing and no
one's recognizing you, no one'sgiving you an award for it, and
(19:22):
you're just slogging away sortof unrecognized, unnoticed, and
just to feel that connection andI think you know the power of
women coming together andsupporting each other is just
absolutely priceless.
Um, you know we've got to becheerleaders for each other,
whatever we're doing, and Ithink you know that's something
(19:42):
we've all got the ability to doand we need to do more of 100%.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Just tell us about feeding families.
Speaker 9 (19:49):
So feeding families, um, just started on my dining
room table, just helping onefamily who I found, who were in
food poverty.
And I've come from quite adifficult background myself.
I've had quite a lot ofchallenges in life, but at this
point, when I came across thisfamily, I had the ability to go
to the supermarket, fill my carwith food and give it to them
(20:11):
and I just felt so blessed thatmy life had turned around to
such an extent that I was ableto do that.
And you know, it wasn't a grandgesture in in lots of ways.
But what happened from that isI met other people who said,
well, I would do that, um, and Ithought, you know, it's just a
matter of enabling people togive that kindness, to share
(20:31):
that love.
And I just started to match upa family who needed help with
somebody who would help them,and it went from there.
So we started as a Christmascharity the first year, um, I
hope, to help 50 families have alovely Christmas.
We helped 719 the first year andthe last few years it's been
(20:51):
over 10 000000 just at Christmas, oh my God.
And last year we haven't donethe stats for this year We'll do
it at the end of March, butlast year it was 46,500 families
that we supported through theyear, with over a million items.
Wow, and it's all the power ofone.
(21:12):
You know, I say to people it'snot that you're all going to
give me a thousand pounds, butif you could give me a can of
beans, if you could give me anhour of your time, if you could
just give me something small,together we can make an
absolutely massive impact.
And that's what's happened.
People have just bought into itand come on the journey and are
(21:32):
still coming on the journey.
The need's there it'sincreasing.
We've got more demand all thetime.
But the more people I can geton side in whatever way,
whatever contribution anyone canmake, then we can harness that,
we can do something with it.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Wow, and we saw you, didn't we, when we were over in
Newcastle just before Christmaswhen we were doing an event over
there, and Wasn't there somekind of rumor that you're trying
to retire?
Speaker 9 (22:02):
So I have a date.
No, we're not listening.
The Lion in the Sand.
19th of December will be mylast working day with feeding
families.
I am then going to go away fora holiday and decompress.
But that is not the end of me,so I'm looking for my next
challenge.
I think it's time to have thiswonderful work onto somebody
(22:25):
else to do who can take it tothe next level.
But I think I'm an entrepreneurat heart.
I want to start another firesomewhere else.
So, um, you know, open tooffers, ladies.
You know what can you suggest?
I'm up for it.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Juliette, you're amazing.
Um, I'm so glad to hearnothing's been hung up and
you're, you're ready.
You're ready for post 19th ofdecember.
Well, should we give you into26, you could have christmas off
.
There you go, yeah, and thenyou will get where you're
getting back.
And thank you, juliette, youare truly amazing.
Um, joe joe clark, hi, a very,very, very, uh emotional evening
(23:05):
for you, I know.
Um, congratulations, I was.
You were in the loo, weren'tyou?
Speaker 10 (23:11):
yeah, because, I sorry, my bus was just about to
go.
I I absolutely didn't thinkthat I'd win at all and then,
when I came back from the load,my friend was saying you've won,
you've won.
I was like what?
So?
Yeah, so you don't need to askthem what likely words were,
because they were shocked,stunned, um yeah, which was just
(23:36):
very typical and a bit guttedthat I didn't get to see how the
nominees are and do the wholebit.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I just literally walked in and went oh right,
okay so, yeah, yeah, you justre-watch back on the live stream
, jo, it'll be fine, you can,you can.
You can sit there this Thursdayevening and replay.
Jo, it was.
Speaker 10 (23:55):
You've been through a lot, right yeah, yeah, I'm
actually um, I think because ofthis I'm getting used to talking
about it without falling aboutin tears.
So the reason I got Agent forChange is I want to change the
law for women that have suffereddomestic violence.
So I went through a difficulttime with domestic violence.
(24:17):
My partner, who was a detectivesergeant, was arrested and sent
to prison and I thought thatwould be it.
But he's come out of prison andhe now posts about me on
Facebook, but because he doesn'tput my name on it, it's not a
breach.
So I want to get the ruleschanged or the law changed that
(24:39):
my restrictions say can'tcontact me through social media
directly or indirectly, but itdoesn't stop him posting.
And how ironic is this?
The reason why I was in thetoilet is because my daughter
messaged me and said he's postedall over Facebook about your
mum.
I actually went to the toiletto compose myself, came back and
(25:02):
everybody was like you've won.
So I just think the whole eventwas amazing.
So thank you so much, and I metsome wonderful people.
But the reason why I did it andtold my story is because I
weren't really sure how I getthe law changed.
I've got court again next month.
I'm still right in the middleof it, but I feel really
(25:23):
empowered because it won't justbe me.
There'll be a million victimshaving rubbish put about them.
On Facebook they've putpictures of me, pictures of my
bedroom.
It's just cringe really, um soyeah.
So, agent for change, I want toget the law changed to help
other people not go through whatI go through.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Jo well, you, you're not Jo well, you're not on your
own.
You're not on your own.
There's a room, there's acommunity.
There are 1200 people watchingonline, 120,000 people across
this community.
I remember thinking, gosh, youhad no idea that you'd won, and
it's only Emma and I knew, andEmma and I had to have lots of
conversations because we wantyou've got to be be.
This is a very sensitive issue.
Speaker 10 (26:08):
And then I had to go to work to see whether they
wanted my company name under,whether it linked to domestic
violence, and then, just youknow the whole point of what I
want to do I just thought, well,if he sees that I've won it,
he's going to post even more,which is just ridiculous.
So, yeah, so I'm so grateful.
Um, emma has been fantastic.
Um, because I didn't even fillout the application form.
(26:30):
I was like, oh, I pass the date.
I tell you what.
Just read the BBC article,because with it was being a
police, it was all over thepapers as well.
Um, and then obviously she'slike uh, well, my friend, sarah
paris, said you, you've got todo your video.
Um, so, yeah, it's been anemotional ride, but I feel so
(26:51):
much better because I've beenable to talk to people about it
and obviously the the pod, uh,the uh thing that we did prior
to the awards was quiteemotional for me because I
didn't expect to be speaking, soI cried on it and lots of
people watching crying.
So it's all been difficult butall positive and hopefully we'll
get to the end of the processand I've made some changes.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Jo, thank you, you have.
We have your back.
We have your back.
We're with you.
You're not on your own.
I know you've got a greatsupport community, but you now
have accelerated that andamplified that.
And, yeah, please stay strongand thank you for being our
agent of change.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, kaylee.
(27:35):
Kaylee, you swooped in.
You swooped in.
Look best backs.
I thought my back set was my,my back set, what do you even
call this my?
But look at that.
That's very cool, kayleigh.
Congratulations.
How are you?
Speaker 7 (27:50):
I am very good.
How is everybody?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
else.
Oh well, you're talking toawesome role models, kayleigh.
No, you sashayed upon thatstage.
I'm not gonna lie.
There was this.
It was a sashay.
It was like hell, yeah, I'vegot a commendation.
What were the three words thatyou felt?
Speaker 7 (28:08):
seen, heard and connected am I?
oh I think as a mother, we areoften silenced in so many ways
to just get on with life andthis is the card we've.
We've decided and we've dealtand we absolutely love being
mothers.
But I think to have therecognition is really important,
(28:30):
to know that we are seen, we'reheard and obviously the whole
mission of mama social is combatand isolation and loneliness
and being connected.
So being in that room wasreally inspiring and the table I
was on was fantastic.
We had a, we had a real goodnatter and a laugh and it was
great and where is your trophy?
(28:53):
oh, it's on my desk out therewhat?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
what do you think this?
Well, you know, catherine'salready said like the day after
the awards, it's like I've beenthe team and we're on it.
We're going to do it.
Joe's taking on court next week.
Susan's off to a school in ashort while and has already said
stuff out loud that she's goingto have to make happen now.
So what are we holding you toaccount for, kayleigh?
Speaker 7 (29:16):
I think the mission of Mama Social is bigger than me
, it's bigger than team it'sit's something that it's
everybody's now.
It's not a need for me to heal,it's a community need to heal.
So it's really just aboutgetting in front of them big
corporates, getting in front ofthem big brands, and just making
them aware that they cansupport and um push the movement
(29:41):
forward and how long have youbeen at Mama Social, been around
?
Two years.
Officially.
The first year it was just, youknow I was on maternity leave.
It was never a business, it was.
How do I stop myself from?
This is so frank to say andbecause of the therapy I've done
, I can say it with just soclear clarity is I tried to kill
(30:04):
myself.
So, standing on the bridge, thatI was trying to find a way to
put either the baby down so thatshe could be saved, was was
something that I couldn't do,knowing that she was not going
to be okay, and if I had aam Iwouldn't have been here today
because I knew somebody wouldsee a pram.
(30:26):
So I had to go back home and assoon as I walked back home and
opened the door, it was as ifevery emotion I'd not felt in
five months had all came rushingback at the same time.
And I spoke to my husband.
We set up therapy.
We just really got deep intohow to get me back.
(30:47):
Now, one of the ways was I justput on Facebook anybody finding
parent crap.
I'm going for a walk at thistime at this location tomorrow.
I turned up the next day andnine mums were stood and I had a
little cry and I was like, okay, I'm not alone, I'm not like
disconnected from realityanymore.
(31:08):
So that first year it was justlet's go for a walk, let's go
for the gym class, let's go to adance class, let's just feel
everything.
And then I went back to workand I felt like I needed to be
doing that.
There was a reason.
My story is not unique.
That's the terrible thing aboutit.
We all know somebody or havefelt the challenges of becoming
(31:32):
a mother, and I knew I needed todo more.
So within two years well, sincetwo years, we've now got over
20 000 members across thecountry, over 70 parent leads
that walk every single day,really across the country, just
providing and facilitating thegrowth of the new modern village
(31:55):
.
Like it's it.
They say it takes a village tobring up a child, but it
actually does.
It's that sentence that's beenlike oh, it's like it takes a
village.
But we're not actually meant todo this disconnected.
We're meant to do this in acommunity.
Like, well, how do you do thisin this modern world where we're
so disconnected and so isolated?
So we facilitate the modernvillage.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Wow, my God, it's just that, oh, I've got've
gotten.
I'm without words, kaylee.
That's, it's.
What you created is a moment intime that could have been so
horrific, so tragic, that tookyou to go back, start a
conversation and that momentbegan a movement with your nine
(32:42):
mums the next day.
Or you know that this is what.
This is what I'm always.
You know, we just talked with,we had Juliet before talking, it
starts with a tin of beans, soyou know it comes up.
Everyone can do something.
So I thank everything that youdidn't have your pram with you
that night and you, you werebrave enough to have that
(33:05):
conversation.
Thank you for sharing this outloud, because there'll be people
listening or people who knowit's that not alone, this
loneliness.
So, honestly, you know whatthis is.
I was just saying at the startokay, this is.
I've woken up this morning tothe.
10 years ago today, probablythis very moment, 9 30, we were
just about to kick off thelaunch of Northern Power, women,
(33:27):
with um 300 people in in a roomand and you never think for one
minute will that lead.
You never think for one minutewith that conversation, the
conversations that you started,the fight back that you started.
Jo, susan, the stories that youshare and the voices you
amplify, kaylee, that thatconversation you had.
You never know where that willstart.
(33:48):
It is 100.
This, this, all your actsbecome a movement.
Some brilliant words, somebrilliant three words in there
delighted, thrilled, connected,proud, uh, just amazing.
And I love where people keeptheir trophies too.
Thank you all so much forjoining us.
A huge congratulations to allof our finalists, to all of our
(34:11):
winners, all of our gamechangers.
Massive thanks to all of ourjudges and thanks to all of you
for supporting and stayingconnected.
With the northern power minimumawards community.
Thanks so much, and we will seeyou very soon.
With the Northern Power MinimalWorks community.
Thanks so much and we'll seeyou very soon.
Welcome to a special edition of the we Are Power
podcast and we are going to betalking to some of our amazing
winners and commended of theNorthern Power Winner Awards
2025.
With our co-headline partnersBarclays and Bank of America,
we've held two drop-in sessionsto have conversations and chats
and hear about the storiesbehind some of our winners and
(00:31):
commended.
Let's get started.
Miss Natalie, over in the NorthEast, the North East had a good
night, didn't they?
On Thursday night, I think.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yes, there was lots of people in the room that we
knew, lots of people that havemessaged since, that were saying
that they were cheering for usin person as well.
I did hear a few when I got onthe stage and I was like who's
that?
And they've messaged me.
So, yeah, lots of people fromthe North East in the room.
It was really nice to see,definitely.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I had Amar Mirza on the table next to me and every
he kept going it's more from thenortheast, there's more from
the northeast, and I'm like theyget everywhere.
It was a good night.
It was a shame the wonderful uh, kim McGuinness, couldn't be
with us.
Uh, she was poorly recoveringfrom appendicitis the day before
.
Um, we sent her her best, butwhat does it feel like?
We only saw you over in thetune just before Christmas,
(01:20):
didn't we, um, and so it waswonderful to see you on that
stage on Thursday yeah, I meanwe're we're thrilled, we're all
thrilled.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Like everyone has said, I think we were shocked as
well.
Um, I think it was just like itwas really nice for us as well,
because it was like a fullcircle moment for us.
Um, myself and Millie were theones who accepted the award, but
we used to be new roleparticipants when we were
children, so it was just it'snice that we've been able to
(01:49):
develop and grow with thecompany, and I think that shows
the work that NUVO does do andthe impact that it has on the
people we work with that wecould be up there celebrating
and celebrating on behalf ofBethany as well, our founder,
who used to be our dance teacher100%, and Bethany has been
nominated in probably the earlyyears of Northern Powering
Awards as well.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Tell me what your three words are.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I would say thrilled for the first one, motivated to
do even more and grateful aswell to be have been recognised
as our micro organisation atsuch a big event.
It's so prestigious and lot ofpeople have already got in touch
and celebrated with us.
So lots of good things already.
It's not even been a week yet,so definitely better things to
(02:34):
come as well it's an amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
It's a beautiful full full circle story, isn't it?
Now?
The trophy we know has made itto the northeast, but it was
touch and go after that, aftershow party, right.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, lots of dancing , lots of trying to protect the
bag as we were dancing.
A lot of people dancing aroundthe bag as well.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
That's what Emma said today.
She was really.
When you speak to Natalie, shewas.
I literally watched themdancing around the bag.
That's proper old school disco,that Natalie.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, it had to be protected, but it made it back
up and now it's on on the on thewindowsill in our office for
everyone to see.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
So it's nice and safe now it's amazing, and what I
love to see is we'll catch upwith you later on.
We'll see you at the.
We'll invite all of you to bejudges, which I always think is
a great thing.
Every year we get the chanceand you'll sit in that room
going oh my goodness, did youtalk about us like that?
We're like yep, that's exactlyhow it works so really excited
to get you involved in thejudging.
(03:33):
I want to just send you a big,massive congratulations again.
It is the highlight of thewhole team's year.
It's hard work, as you know,but the hard work is nothing in
comparison to the hard work thatall, each and every one of you
and your teams do to make adifference every day.
Kirsty, DWF, Law, winners ofour large organisation how did
(03:58):
you feel?
Oscar-esque, I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Elated, privileged to be among such big names,
surprised, although we had donea lot, everyone's done a lot in
that room, so it was, it was ashock to say, but we were so
over the moon, and it wasexactly what we need.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Oh no, I'm thrilled for that.
Tell us a little bit about DWFLaw, what you do, what you're,
what you're proud of, because,like you just said, you do a lot
.
You know you do a lot, but sodoes everybody.
But tell us what you do.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
So we're a leading global provider of integrated
legal and business services.
So we're across 26 countriesand we run across three
different sectors legal services, insurance services and legal
operations.
So we do a lot of tech thatsupports the legal solution.
So it's not just a bunch oflawyers, it's a bit more than
(04:52):
that and we have about four anda half thousand people, edging
up towards 5000 at the moment.
So quite hard to corral.
But the ESG and sustainabilitystrategy, which incorporates our
DE&I strategy, is somethingthat's global because we align
it to the sustainabledevelopment goals and it's
something that we can all reallyget behind.
(05:13):
And it's very differentdepending on the locations that
we're in, but it is driven fromManchester, which is our head
office and where we started.
We started in Liverpool andManchester, so the majority of
people be about two and a halfthousand in those two offices.
So, and that's that's where wesupercharge everything but then
get it out and elsewhere.
(05:34):
So so proud of the fact that wewe run from the north, but we
run globally and it's trulyglobal, global.
And you know, it was delightedto see the questions that you
had in relation to the categoryof what do you do around the
sustainable development goals.
So it was like well, actuallywe've got this big campaign on
sustainable development goals,so that was wonderful.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It was like it was written for you, kirsty.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
That week it was.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
And I don't think I've ever had anyone on the
podcast before.
Use the word discombobulated.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I nearly didn't get that out, so I nearly didn't use
it either, kirsty.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Congratulations DWF Law.
We look forward to catching up.
Oh, afra, welcome andcongratulations, severa UK.
So excited to see you up there.
How does it feel?
Speaker 3 (06:21):
give me your three words yeah, it's, uh, it's, it's
been like absolutely my threewords, probably on the night was
shocked because I had to lookdown twice and say was that?
Was that us really um,speechless, um and proud, um to
(06:44):
get this prestigious award?
I did have a big scream on myway home from the car driving
because I came on my own,because we couldn't bring some
of the team.
I had a bit of a scream in themotorway going back to Liverpool
.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Please tell me that was safe, afra, please tell me,
that was safe.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
No, it was safe.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
It was.
It was, yeah, it was.
Tell us a little bit for thosepeople who are not aware.
I know the wonderful NazirAfzal OBE is one of your patrons
and he spoke on the evening.
He's an amazing human.
We're very blessed to have himin what we do Tell.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
very blessed to have him um in what we do.
Tell us, tell us about the workthat you are thankfully doing
so severe.
Uk is a national uh based inmerseyside.
Uh charity established in 2010and the reason was um.
I found the charity yourself andother members is because there
was no um.
(07:46):
Nothing was um kind of workingto end honor-based abuse and
harmful practices.
There was no data, there was nouh service to help those who's
at risk um, so it was a quitelong challenge in terms of risk
(08:09):
um.
So it was a quite longchallenge in term of um wanted
to, if anybody at risk.
So I made it on myself toestablish an organization just
to raise awareness.
I never knew, really, that itwill come to where it is today
and the aim of it is to end onthe base to be used for um, for
good um and um.
The part of it is to provide aservice to those at risk um and
(08:32):
then the threat of on a base tobe used in harmful practices
like forced marriage, childmarriage, um on a base to be
used female gender mutilation,convention therapy, and then the
other part is aroundcampaigning in terms of policy
change, in terms of training andeducation, in terms of raising
(08:56):
awareness in terms of communityengagement what.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
What does it mean to the team?
When you were shouting to theteam from the motorway safely,
we hazard um what.
What does it mean to them?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
yeah, I think it's that recognition, because as a
small charity sometimes it'sreally hard.
So by seeing that and beingrecognized that our work is
really important afro what isnext for you?
I think, as a, as a smallcharity, as we just started, and
I think our dream is quite bigand our mission is very, very
(09:31):
big as well.
Our mission is to have a worldwithout honour based abuse and
harmful practices.
But we feel a step at a timefrom five years ago started with
just three staff to five yearslater been working really hard
to bring our staff into a 15member of the team.
So myself and the board are nowwe're looking at where our next
(09:57):
stage is.
It's just ensuring thatsustainability, but also how do
we expand to the northwest,because we know this issues it's
still a huge gaps withinservices and how can we make
sure we we reach out as manypeople as possible through our
campaign, through our education,but also having services within
(10:22):
the northwest that deal withthese?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
well, I'm dafra.
Massive congratulations to youand your small yet mighty team.
It's phenomenal, the workyou're doing, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Now I'm delighted to introduceJulie Nicholson, who is the
winner of the InclusiveInnovation Award.
Julie, welcome Welcome to thepodcast.
I know you're not feeling toowell.
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
I know you're not feeling too well.
I still feel proud anddelighted and and I was I was
surprised on the night.
To be honest, I was with Susanbecause she she works with us as
well and, uh, she had to giveme a nudge because I just didn't
quite believe it.
She's like you.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
I love the little as we know.
We get you all to write likelittle bios or little sort of um
, and you talk about show theworld, tell the world, change
the world.
Digital voice works withparticipants often excluded from
digital media.
I love that.
Show the world, tell us, tellus what digital voice is, what
you do thank you.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
So, yes, we help people to use creative digital
media, to have a voice aboutthings, to be creative.
Susan, as you know, is anamazing creative writer and
empowers young women andchildren.
She's going to go into a schoolfor us today to prep for
(11:42):
working with some children.
They're going to do somecreative writing that will be
used in a soundscape for theNational Trust.
It's their Blossoms Festivalcoming up and there's going to
be an amazing video installationat the Hancock the Great North
Museum in Newcastle soon, and sowe're creating the soundscape
for that.
(12:02):
So we work with um amazing filmand media professionals from
across the northeast to to bringthat to people, so to give them
the opportunity to, to getinvolved with things like that
and also to have a voice aboutreally important issues and try
and make a difference I love it.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I love the whole concept of the soundscape.
Now tell me where is yourlovely piece of art?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
no-transcript um well , not to be unmodest, but it's
on our awards shelf, but it'sright in the middle absolutely,
julie.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Thank you, uh, thanks so much for joining us.
Please get well and lookforward to seeing you.
And congratulations, susan, um,congratulations, tell us, tell
us what.
Tell us in a nutshell, if youcan yeah, it's um.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
So I've only been um freelance for four years.
So I lost my full-time job, um,due to the pandemic I worked
for in a theatre company, um,but it was.
I worked there a long time, um,and it felt like the universe
was going hey, those things thatyou've been thinking about
doing, maybe you could do themnow, um, so I've kind of built
(13:18):
up a sort of, I guess, aportfolio of work.
So my work as a writer meansthat I write plays.
That's how I started in thetheatre industry, um, I also
write copy and content and, asJulie says, I've um, I
facilitate other people'screativity through writing, um,
(13:39):
and that's, I think, gettingthis recognition, this
commendation in a way, has kindof like packaged it for me.
Like you know, when you do Idon't know what other people on
the call, if you do lots ofdifferent things and you kind of
have to condense it and go likeI do about 15 different things,
but I need to be able to say,especially on LinkedIn, I need
to be pithy, particularly as awriter um, this, this
(14:02):
empowerment champion sort ofit's almost like, it feels like
it is the, the USP.
It's the thing that inspires meto do what I do.
I love working with youngpeople, primarily young girls in
the Northeast, and getting themto primarily see themselves a
bit differently and expand theirhorizons and see that
(14:26):
creativity isn't a thing thatjust happens to some people,
like artists, like that visualcreativity that you could see,
but that it's a way of problemsolving, it's a way of thinking.
It's a way of thinking it's,it's just a human trait.
So I try and remind them thatthey are creative and and how
powerful a force it is.
So I wasn't pithy at all.
(14:46):
There was, do you know what?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
you.
You've got accommodation.
Who cares?
Like Susan, tell, give me thosethree words that you well can
you do three words.
Or are Susan give me thosethree words that you well can
you do three words?
Or are you going to give me 30?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Who knows, I'm going to try Give me three.
So definitely pride.
I think excited.
Like I felt excited on thenight, I still feel excited now
and I'm going to say emboldened,which I feel is like if you put
empowerment and brave together.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Susan, thank you so much uh for joining me uh today.
Catherine, catherine, I thinkyours is one of the the most
emotional uh responses on thenight.
Um, because you weren't goingto come were you at one point.
Speaker 8 (15:29):
No, because I, my mum , had actually been in hospital
and she literally came out theday before, but she was just
like just go, I'll be fine.
So it was a bit hit and miss,really, and even being honest, I
just wasn't expecting to.
I wasn't expecting to win, Iwasn't expecting to do it.
(15:50):
I was so shocked.
Throughout the whole process Iwas like, oh, I've got through
this, but oh, it's fine, I won'tmake the.
So, yeah, it was just acomplete shock, to be honest oh,
and tell us what.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
What are your three words?
Speaker 8 (16:04):
um, so I've got pride .
Um, happy and motivated.
I don't.
I think with motivated it'smore around like being given,
like the person with purpose.
I think it just gave me thatmassive boost that I've needed
at this stage of like being anentrepreneur, because it's so,
(16:26):
it's, it's like a roller coaster.
Um, I was saying to my team, itjust came at the right time
when there'd been so manyhurdles, and then now I'm like.
The next day, I was literallylike right, okay, what are we
doing?
Let's go out again like.
I think, yeah, motivated, it'slike the one word that mainly
stands out, because it wasdefinitely.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
It was like the boost that I needed tell us, tell us
what, what you do and what youdrive, and what you're going to
drive more of yeah, so be what.
Speaker 8 (16:54):
Byc Consultancy is a equity, diversity and inclusion
training company, but wespecialize in workplace
discrimination prevention.
So essentially I go into theboth private and public sector
and I create training programsin areas of being an active
bystander, anti-racism, lgbtinclusion and neurodiversity
(17:18):
awareness, and we do training toboth adults and young people,
and some of our clients includepremier league football clubs,
nhs trust universities andschools across the northwest wow
, amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Now tell me you've shared with your team.
Where is your trophy now?
Speaker 8 (17:38):
my trophy is actually here next to me.
It's gone on a bit of a tour.
Everyone's everyone's been likeoh, can you bring the?
I think they're more excited tosee the trophy than me.
So no, it's being by my side,because, yeah, I've been.
Um, just people have like beenmessaging me, like wanting to
(17:59):
meet up, take me for coffee andsay thank you.
So I've actually got a dinnertonight back home.
Um, in liverpool, look at that,look at that today, and um,
yeah, so yeah, I feel like we'relike taking it on tour
everywhere and everyone's like,oh, let me see it.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Oh, I love that.
Thank you so much for droppingin today.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Thank you, juliet, you've beenbilled as a legend Welcome.
Speaker 9 (18:27):
I don't know about that.
I mean, the legends come withage.
I think that might be myExperience.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Age is just a number.
Juliette, your three words,Juliette.
Speaker 9 (18:38):
I think, for the night.
Glamorous because here I amsitting in a warehouse at the
moment.
My life isn't very glamorous,so, you know, it's just such a
great experience to sort ofshare in that.
Inspirational because therewere just so many amazing
stories, amazing women, and notjust the people who won awards,
but the people sitting on thetables that we talked to on the
(19:01):
way in and out.
Um, and, I think, connected aswell.
Um, connected is a reallyimportant word for me because I
think, where I've come from,it's felt very isolated at times
, that sometimes you're in yourgroove, doing your thing and no
one's recognizing you, no one'sgiving you an award for it, and
(19:22):
you're just slogging away sortof unrecognized, unnoticed, and
just to feel that connection andI think you know the power of
women coming together andsupporting each other is just
absolutely priceless.
Um, you know we've got to becheerleaders for each other,
whatever we're doing, and Ithink you know that's something
(19:42):
we've all got the ability to doand we need to do more of 100%.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Just tell us about feeding families.
Speaker 9 (19:49):
So feeding families, um, just started on my dining
room table, just helping onefamily who I found, who were in
food poverty.
And I've come from quite adifficult background myself.
I've had quite a lot ofchallenges in life, but at this
point, when I came across thisfamily, I had the ability to go
to the supermarket, fill my carwith food and give it to them
(20:11):
and I just felt so blessed thatmy life had turned around to
such an extent that I was ableto do that.
And you know, it wasn't a grandgesture in in lots of ways.
But what happened from that isI met other people who said,
well, I would do that, um, and Ithought, you know, it's just a
matter of enabling people togive that kindness, to share
(20:31):
that love.
And I just started to match upa family who needed help with
somebody who would help them,and it went from there.
So we started as a Christmascharity the first year, um, I
hope, to help 50 families have alovely Christmas.
We helped 719 the first year andthe last few years it's been
(20:51):
over 10 000000 just at Christmas, oh my God.
And last year we haven't donethe stats for this year We'll do
it at the end of March, butlast year it was 46,500 families
that we supported through theyear, with over a million items.
Wow, and it's all the power ofone.
(21:12):
You know, I say to people it'snot that you're all going to
give me a thousand pounds, butif you could give me a can of
beans, if you could give me anhour of your time, if you could
just give me something small,together we can make an
absolutely massive impact.
And that's what's happened.
People have just bought into itand come on the journey and are
(21:32):
still coming on the journey.
The need's there it'sincreasing.
We've got more demand all thetime.
But the more people I can geton side in whatever way,
whatever contribution anyone canmake, then we can harness that,
we can do something with it.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Wow, and we saw you, didn't we, when we were over in
Newcastle just before Christmaswhen we were doing an event over
there, and Wasn't there somekind of rumor that you're trying
to retire?
Speaker 9 (22:02):
So I have a date.
No, we're not listening.
The Lion in the Sand.
19th of December will be mylast working day with feeding
families.
I am then going to go away fora holiday and decompress.
But that is not the end of me,so I'm looking for my next
challenge.
I think it's time to have thiswonderful work onto somebody
(22:25):
else to do who can take it tothe next level.
But I think I'm an entrepreneurat heart.
I want to start another firesomewhere else.
So, um, you know, open tooffers, ladies.
You know what can you suggest?
I'm up for it.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Juliette, you're amazing.
Um, I'm so glad to hearnothing's been hung up and
you're, you're ready.
You're ready for post 19th ofdecember.
Well, should we give you into26, you could have christmas off
.
There you go, yeah, and thenyou will get where you're
getting back.
And thank you, juliette, youare truly amazing.
Um, joe joe clark, hi, a very,very, very, uh emotional evening
(23:05):
for you, I know.
Um, congratulations, I was.
You were in the loo, weren'tyou?
Speaker 10 (23:11):
yeah, because, I sorry, my bus was just about to
go.
I I absolutely didn't thinkthat I'd win at all and then,
when I came back from the load,my friend was saying you've won,
you've won.
I was like what?
So?
Yeah, so you don't need to askthem what likely words were,
because they were shocked,stunned, um yeah, which was just
(23:36):
very typical and a bit guttedthat I didn't get to see how the
nominees are and do the wholebit.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I just literally walked in and went oh right,
okay so, yeah, yeah, you justre-watch back on the live stream
, jo, it'll be fine, you can,you can.
You can sit there this Thursdayevening and replay.
Jo, it was.
Speaker 10 (23:55):
You've been through a lot, right yeah, yeah, I'm
actually um, I think because ofthis I'm getting used to talking
about it without falling aboutin tears.
So the reason I got Agent forChange is I want to change the
law for women that have suffereddomestic violence.
So I went through a difficulttime with domestic violence.
(24:17):
My partner, who was a detectivesergeant, was arrested and sent
to prison and I thought thatwould be it.
But he's come out of prison andhe now posts about me on
Facebook, but because he doesn'tput my name on it, it's not a
breach.
So I want to get the ruleschanged or the law changed that
(24:39):
my restrictions say can'tcontact me through social media
directly or indirectly, but itdoesn't stop him posting.
And how ironic is this?
The reason why I was in thetoilet is because my daughter
messaged me and said he's postedall over Facebook about your
mum.
I actually went to the toiletto compose myself, came back and
(25:02):
everybody was like you've won.
So I just think the whole eventwas amazing.
So thank you so much, and I metsome wonderful people.
But the reason why I did it andtold my story is because I
weren't really sure how I getthe law changed.
I've got court again next month.
I'm still right in the middleof it, but I feel really
(25:23):
empowered because it won't justbe me.
There'll be a million victimshaving rubbish put about them.
On Facebook they've putpictures of me, pictures of my
bedroom.
It's just cringe really, um soyeah.
So, agent for change, I want toget the law changed to help
other people not go through whatI go through.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Jo well, you, you're not Jo well, you're not on your
own.
You're not on your own.
There's a room, there's acommunity.
There are 1200 people watchingonline, 120,000 people across
this community.
I remember thinking, gosh, youhad no idea that you'd won, and
it's only Emma and I knew, andEmma and I had to have lots of
conversations because we wantyou've got to be be.
This is a very sensitive issue.
Speaker 10 (26:08):
And then I had to go to work to see whether they
wanted my company name under,whether it linked to domestic
violence, and then, just youknow the whole point of what I
want to do I just thought, well,if he sees that I've won it,
he's going to post even more,which is just ridiculous.
So, yeah, so I'm so grateful.
Um, emma has been fantastic.
Um, because I didn't even fillout the application form.
(26:30):
I was like, oh, I pass the date.
I tell you what.
Just read the BBC article,because with it was being a
police, it was all over thepapers as well.
Um, and then obviously she'slike uh, well, my friend, sarah
paris, said you, you've got todo your video.
Um, so, yeah, it's been anemotional ride, but I feel so
(26:51):
much better because I've beenable to talk to people about it
and obviously the the pod, uh,the uh thing that we did prior
to the awards was quiteemotional for me because I
didn't expect to be speaking, soI cried on it and lots of
people watching crying.
So it's all been difficult butall positive and hopefully we'll
get to the end of the processand I've made some changes.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Jo, thank you, you have.
We have your back.
We have your back.
We're with you.
You're not on your own.
I know you've got a greatsupport community, but you now
have accelerated that andamplified that.
And, yeah, please stay strongand thank you for being our
agent of change.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, kaylee.
(27:35):
Kaylee, you swooped in.
You swooped in.
Look best backs.
I thought my back set was my,my back set, what do you even
call this my?
But look at that.
That's very cool, kayleigh.
Congratulations.
How are you?
Speaker 7 (27:50):
I am very good.
How is everybody?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
else.
Oh well, you're talking toawesome role models, kayleigh.
No, you sashayed upon thatstage.
I'm not gonna lie.
There was this.
It was a sashay.
It was like hell, yeah, I'vegot a commendation.
What were the three words thatyou felt?
Speaker 7 (28:08):
seen, heard and connected am I?
oh I think as a mother, we areoften silenced in so many ways
to just get on with life andthis is the card we've.
We've decided and we've dealtand we absolutely love being
mothers.
But I think to have therecognition is really important,
(28:30):
to know that we are seen, we'reheard and obviously the whole
mission of mama social is combatand isolation and loneliness
and being connected.
So being in that room wasreally inspiring and the table I
was on was fantastic.
We had a, we had a real goodnatter and a laugh and it was
great and where is your trophy?
(28:53):
oh, it's on my desk out therewhat?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
what do you think this?
Well, you know, catherine'salready said like the day after
the awards, it's like I've beenthe team and we're on it.
We're going to do it.
Joe's taking on court next week.
Susan's off to a school in ashort while and has already said
stuff out loud that she's goingto have to make happen now.
So what are we holding you toaccount for, kayleigh?
Speaker 7 (29:16):
I think the mission of Mama Social is bigger than me
, it's bigger than team it'sit's something that it's
everybody's now.
It's not a need for me to heal,it's a community need to heal.
So it's really just aboutgetting in front of them big
corporates, getting in front ofthem big brands, and just making
them aware that they cansupport and um push the movement
(29:41):
forward and how long have youbeen at Mama Social, been around
?
Two years.
Officially.
The first year it was just, youknow I was on maternity leave.
It was never a business, it was.
How do I stop myself from?
This is so frank to say andbecause of the therapy I've done
, I can say it with just soclear clarity is I tried to kill
(30:04):
myself.
So, standing on the bridge, thatI was trying to find a way to
put either the baby down so thatshe could be saved, was was
something that I couldn't do,knowing that she was not going
to be okay, and if I had aam Iwouldn't have been here today
because I knew somebody wouldsee a pram.
(30:26):
So I had to go back home and assoon as I walked back home and
opened the door, it was as ifevery emotion I'd not felt in
five months had all came rushingback at the same time.
And I spoke to my husband.
We set up therapy.
We just really got deep intohow to get me back.
(30:47):
Now, one of the ways was I justput on Facebook anybody finding
parent crap.
I'm going for a walk at thistime at this location tomorrow.
I turned up the next day andnine mums were stood and I had a
little cry and I was like, okay, I'm not alone, I'm not like
disconnected from realityanymore.
(31:08):
So that first year it was justlet's go for a walk, let's go
for the gym class, let's go to adance class, let's just feel
everything.
And then I went back to workand I felt like I needed to be
doing that.
There was a reason.
My story is not unique.
That's the terrible thing aboutit.
We all know somebody or havefelt the challenges of becoming
(31:32):
a mother, and I knew I needed todo more.
So within two years well, sincetwo years, we've now got over
20 000 members across thecountry, over 70 parent leads
that walk every single day,really across the country, just
providing and facilitating thegrowth of the new modern village
(31:55):
.
Like it's it.
They say it takes a village tobring up a child, but it
actually does.
It's that sentence that's beenlike oh, it's like it takes a
village.
But we're not actually meant todo this disconnected.
We're meant to do this in acommunity.
Like, well, how do you do thisin this modern world where we're
so disconnected and so isolated?
So we facilitate the modernvillage.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Wow, my God, it's just that, oh, I've got've
gotten.
I'm without words, kaylee.
That's, it's.
What you created is a moment intime that could have been so
horrific, so tragic, that tookyou to go back, start a
conversation and that momentbegan a movement with your nine
(32:42):
mums the next day.
Or you know that this is what.
This is what I'm always.
You know, we just talked with,we had Juliet before talking, it
starts with a tin of beans, soyou know it comes up.
Everyone can do something.
So I thank everything that youdidn't have your pram with you
that night and you, you werebrave enough to have that
(33:05):
conversation.
Thank you for sharing this outloud, because there'll be people
listening or people who knowit's that not alone, this
loneliness.
So, honestly, you know whatthis is.
I was just saying at the startokay, this is.
I've woken up this morning tothe.
10 years ago today, probablythis very moment, 9 30, we were
just about to kick off thelaunch of Northern Power, women,
(33:27):
with um 300 people in in a roomand and you never think for one
minute will that lead.
You never think for one minutewith that conversation, the
conversations that you started,the fight back that you started.
Jo, susan, the stories that youshare and the voices you
amplify, kaylee, that thatconversation you had.
You never know where that willstart.
(33:48):
It is 100.
This, this, all your actsbecome a movement.
Some brilliant words, somebrilliant three words in there
delighted, thrilled, connected,proud, uh, just amazing.
And I love where people keeptheir trophies too.
Thank you all so much forjoining us.
A huge congratulations to allof our finalists, to all of our
(34:11):
winners, all of our gamechangers.
Massive thanks to all of ourjudges and thanks to all of you
for supporting and stayingconnected.
With the northern power minimumawards community.
Thanks so much, and we will seeyou very soon.
With the Northern Power MinimalWorks community.
Thanks so much and we'll seeyou very soon.
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