Celebrating Yorkshire's women

The sound of champagne corks popping echoed around Leeds on a Friday afternoon last month as almost 800 women gathered to celebrate some of Yorkshire's most inspirational, talented and successful women.

I was honoured to be invited to the Yorkshire Women of Achievement Awards - held at the Royal Armouries on Friday (May 20) - as a guest of local children's author Christina Gabbitas.  Christina invited me to the awards earlier this year, only finding out a couple of weeks ago that she was actually nominated for the education award.

It truly was a celebration of girl power at its absolute finest.  So much celebrating took place, in fact, that the Royal Armouries sold out of prosecco!  Something you'd only find at an event predominantly attended by women.

I felt humbled to be among such inspirational, brave women whose work was being recognised for the tremendous difference it has made to the lives of others.

The 30th Yorkshire Women of Achievement Awards were overseen and presented by BBC Radio Leeds presenter Liz Green.  Among the guests were the original Calendar Girls - spotted early on for their distinctive black ensembles with the infamous sunflower - Welcome to Yorkshire's Sir Gary Verity, actress Gaynor Faye, writer Kay Mellor, Mike Tomlinson - the widower of iconic fundraiser Jane Tomlinson - and radio DJ Stephanie Hirst.

The big winner of the afternoon was Jayne Senior. She was the whistleblower for the Rotherham sex scandal, explaining in an emotionally charged VT how she risked prison to make sure the horrific crimes were exposed.   She was the manager of a project called Risky Business, which works with victims of child sexual exploitation, and has dedicated her life over the past 10 years to helping children.

She helped the police and the council to try and get justice for the girls who were being groomed and exploited by men in Rotherham.  She saw Risky Business shut down and even saw her health suffer due to the stress.  She battled adversity, was branded a racist, and even risked getting arrested by whistleblowing the whole scandal. But she never gave in.   Jayne won the Commumity Impact award but was also presented the overall Woman of Achievement award for 2016.

Young businesswoman Mary Benson picked up the Woman of Achievement in Business, kicking off the ceremony with a cracking acceptance speech which had everyone present howling with laughter. 

The successful fashion designer has worked with some of the top names in the fashion world including Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood.

In her acceptance speech, Mary reflected on a tough few weeks that she had been having - even admitting that she contemplated giving it all up because she was so skint - and was visibly emotional at the honour that had been bestowed upon her. 

Quite obviously taken aback by the whole situation, Mary didn't hesitate to describe the difficult past few weeks to the 800-strong audience with a perfectly timed expletive - "I've been fucked!" 

I've not been to many awards ceremonies, but I would hazard a guess that Mary's was one of the best acceptance speeches ever.

Christina Gabbitas, the lovely lady of whom I was a guest, also picked up an award for her work in education. Christina is amazing - I literally have no idea how she fits everything in.   She visits schools to do reading and writing workshops, carries out storytelling sessions at libraries, runs a successful national initiate aimed at getting children writing, writes her own children's books, and even recently found time to visit the United Arab Emirates for a reading festival. 

She has also released a hugely successful safeguarding book called 'Share Some Secrets' which aims to educate children about the good and bad secrets, encouraging them to speak out without fear.

Recently, Share Some Secrets has been shortlisted as a finalist for the People’s Book Prize.   The book has also been highly praised by the NSPCC and Barnardo’s, and Christina was a worthy winner of the award, if I do say so myself.

Another worthy winner was Jackie Roberts, who walked away with the Jane Tomlinson award for courage.  Jackie's daughter Megan tragically drowned in the River Ouse in 2014 after falling into the water while on a night out in York.  Since her daughter's tragic passing, Jackie has become a prominent supporter of the Royal Life Saving Society UK, becoming a drowning prevention officer last year. She has also raised thousands of pounds for the charity.

Truly, truly incredible and so emotional.

It didn't end there, either. 

We were also treated to an emotional performance by Lizzie Jones - the widow of Keighley Cougars player Danny Jones who died after suffering a cardiac arrest during a game of rugby last year.

It was emotional. It was humbling. But it was truly inspirational.

As I sat there reading about each of the 73 nominees, and the reasons they were sat there in that room, I realised all the good that there still is in the world.  We spend so long focusing on the bad - terrorism, war, poverty, disease - that we forget to look at the good. 

We forget to celebrate the people who are making a real difference to people's lives. The people who go above and beyond anything that is expected of them to put others before themselves. The people who risk everything to safeguard others. The people who don't let adversity bring them down.

It's so easy to give in when things are tough. To accept that's the hand we've been dealt and just live with it. The women I celebrated last week did not give in so easy. They fought to overcome obstacles, adversity and barriers and have become role models, trailblazers and inspirations.

In total, over £58,000 was raised for Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice in Leeds thanks to the event.  This could cover the cost of 3,656 hours of incredible care to support people in the Leeds community.

Since the awards were first founded 30 years ago, over £500,000 has been raised for the hospice.

How the strength of one family could help save thousands of others from the pain they are going through

Earlier this month I wrote how touched I had been by the story of a brave local woman who lost her battle with cervical cancer.

Emma Fisk was only 25 when she passed away earlier this year after a short battle with a rare form of cervical cancer.

I met her mum and step-mum at the end of August and was struck by their courage, their bravery and their determination to not let Emma's fight have been for nothing.  They are determined to make a change and stop other girls and their families going through this.  Determined to prevent other families experiencing the loss, the pain and the heartbreak that they have felt - and still feel today.

I've since met Emma's mum (Adele) and her step-mum (Ashley) again and was once again blown away by their strength.

It is clear that they miss Emma every single day and that nothing they ever do will bring her back.  But rather than feeling aggrieved they are putting all their love for Emma and their passion into fighting for change.  A change that could save the lives of thousands of other young women.

The Team Emma Campaign was catapulted onto the national stage earlier this month and people all around the world were joining Emma's family to try and make a change.

Adele, Ashley and the rest of Emma's loved ones are trying to reduce the age at which women can have a smear to 18-years-old.  Health professionals continually argue that lowering the age of smear tests would do more harm to young girls than good.  Emma's family understand this argument, but say that whilst abnormal cells can rectify themselves - cancer can't.  If cancerous cells are found during a smear test treatment can begin to treat those before it gets too late.

Those who are for lowering the age of smear tests say girls should begin to be tested as soon as they become sexually active.  But some strains of cervical cancer have nothing to do with how much sex a woman has had, at what age she started having sex, or how many partners she has had.

Girls nowadays get the HPV jab in school which aims to prevent cervical cancer.  But the jab doesn't protect against all strains of cervical cancer.  The type that Emma had can still occur even in those who have had the HPV jab.

Whilst lowering the age seems like a big task, Emma's family are determined to do everything they can.  With the help of their thousands of supporters, they are set on enforcing a change.

Even if that change is that women can be granted a smear upon request.

At present, women who have fears over the health and ask for a smear are told they have to wait until they are 25 and called for a smear.

After Jade Goody died in 2009 campaigners thought this would be the high profile case that could get the smear test age reduced.  Unfortunately, six years on, more young women are continuing to lose their lives because they are being denied a simple test.

I'm not a medical professional and I don't know the complex ins and outs of why the smear test age is what it is.  Not everyone is going to agree that lowering the age is the right thing to do, and of course everyone is entitled to their opinion.

But the more young girls this happens to the more it appears something needs to be done to change the testing procedure.  Families shouldn't have to lose their daughters/sisters/aunties/cousins just because they were denied a test.

The Team Emma Campaign have just launched a petition and, if you are as touched by their tragic tale as I have been, I would implore you to sign it and share it with your friends and family.

Emma's family are organising loads of events in the coming months to keep the profile of their campaign raised and to continue making people aware of their fight to lower the age.

To sign their petition, follow this link to the online petition.  Today they launched their #Mission5 appeal to encourage people to get five friends to sign and share the petition and Emma's story.

You can join #TeamEmma by following this link to The Team Emma Campaign Facebook page.

Find out more about The Team Emma Campaign here

York 10k - the de-brief (and photos)

Six months ago, me and Tom went for a run around the block (it's probably just under a mile) and I was absolutely rubbish. I couldn't even run to the end of the street before I was panting and giving up. This morning, helped again by Tom, we ran the York 10k in 1 hour and 11 minutes.

We were running in memory of our nana, who passed away 3 weeks ago, and I'm sure we did her really proud. 

After her initial diagnosis, me and my brother, Jack, signed up to run and raise money for Bowel Cancer UK. We never imagined at the time that our nana would not be here to watch us run but her sudden passing only spurred us on to try harder and raise even more money. After she died Tom signed up too to help - not only help get me round but help us raise even more money. 

My target time for today was 1hr 20mins. Up until now the furthest I'd run was 8k and that took me an hour - so I'm so happy with this!

Jack, the pro athlete in the family, ran the 10k in 38mins. After he finished he walked back to meet me and Tom and the three of us ran the last 1.5k together. 

We set our fundraising target before starting at £500 and have more than surpassed that now, currently at over £800! 

Please, if you haven't already and you have a couple of pounds to spare, visit our JustGiving page here. To all those who have sponsored us already - thank you so much! I will thank everyone properly next week. 

Here are a few pictures from today (to prove we did it haha!)

What started as a run for charity is now a run in memory of our nana.

It's almost here - in 72 hours time I will be about to embark on the York 10k.  This will be the furthest I've ever ran in one go and will be a huge test for me (I absolutely despise running!)

As many of you will already know, my nana passed away a couple of weeks ago from bowel cancer.

She was only diagnosed with the disease at the end of March and after further tests was told she would have 12 to 18 months to live.  But the cancer was so severe and aggressive that, instead, it was a matter of weeks.  When we signed up to do the York 10k we never, ever imagined that two days before it would be my nana's funeral.  We thought she would still be with us, cheering us on and waiting eagerly to see how far behind Jack I finished!

I've already written a blog post about the c-word and my nana's passing, so I won't dwell on that again here. (If you want to read it, follow this link)

This post is all about asking (begging) you to sponsor us for the 10k.

Me and my brother, Jack, signed up to do the York 10k after my nana was diagnosed as we wanted to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK.

My training was going really well (as well as it could for me) and I was managing to get a couple of runs a week in - getting quicker each time.  But I was quite poorly a couple of weeks ago with vertigo and labyrinthitis and this set me back quite a lot.  I couldn't even walk a few steps let alone run anywhere!  So it could be quite interesting how I get on on Sunday (I also have some pretty nasty blisters from wearing heels last weekend and walking a really long way.  But that's not as good of an excuse for running slow as being poorly so I'll stick with the first one ha!)

Obviously since my nana passed away this run has become even more important to us and we now want to raise even more money in memory of our nana.

After my nana died, my lovely, supportive fiancé Tom also signed up to do the run with us to support me and Jack and, hopefully, improve our chances of raising lots of cash for a worthwhile charity.

It's the end of the month so everyone has either just been paid or will be getting paid tomorrow, so please, please spare some of your pennies and sponsor us for this.  If the money we raise can go towards more research into this horrible, nasty disease and more support for those suffering first hand then all the blisters and sore legs will have been worth it.

If the money we raise can stop someone's family member and friend suffering the same way my nana did then we will have succeeded.  Until they find a cure for this horrible disease, charities such as Bowel Cancer UK are so important in providing support and care for those suffering from bowel cancer and their loved ones.

To sponsor us for the York 10k, please visit our JustGiving page - www.justgiving.com/Natalie-Derham1

We are so, so grateful to everyone who has sponsored us so far - family, friends, work colleagues, and people we don't even know - thank you so, so much!  Every little helps and if you have even just a few pounds spare please sponsor us and help us to raise money in our nana's memory.

RIP Nana, we hope we can do you proud <3

www.justgiving.com/Natalie-Derham1

Reflecting on the Great Ormond Street Hospital documentary and the key messages it contained

Despite us having 1,000s of channels to choose from on Sky, we can never, ever find anything 'good' on to watch (obviously not including the re-runs of Friends on Comedy Central!)

After flicking through the guide last night, we came across a documentary on BBC2 about Great Ormond Street Hospital and it was all about lung transplants.  The programme followed four children ranging in age through their quest to breathe easy and enjoy their childhood/extend their life expectancy.

As expected with any programme that comes with a warning of 'upsetting scenes', it tugged at the heart strings and gave us a feeling of admiration for all those featured - the doctors, consultants and surgeons working tirelessly at GOSH; the parents for being so composed and strong for their children; and the children themselves for being so incredibly brave.

The issue of organ donation was a subtle undertone to the programme as you saw the children take their place on the donor waiting list - some for a matter of days and some for much longer.  One little boy, Charlie, waited just over a week for his new lungs.  The consultant said he was very lucky to find a match so quickly, some people wait months, even years - with many dying before a match was found.

Another girl, Jess, had a false alarm of a donor match.  When she eventually got one, tests found cancer in the body of the donor - meaning it could have spread to the lungs.  This was something they could not know, meaning Jess then had to decide whether this was a risk she wanted to take, or whether she would reject these lungs and go back on the list for some more.  Such a difficult decision for anyone to make, but a child?  It's unthinkable.

After watching the documentary, I felt safe in the knowledge that I am signed up to the Organ Donor Register meaning that, when I pass away (which hopefully is a long, long way off yet!), my organs will go to help those who really, really need them,

Whilst I am signed up, and have been for a number of years, many people aren't - which sometimes surprises me.  If, God forbid, you or a person you loved was in an accident or came down with a serious illness and the only chance of saving you/them was a donor organ, it would be unquestionable to say yes.  There's then the painful wait for someone who is a match, and consented to donating their organs, to pass away.

If put in that situation, no doubt everyone would hope and pray that there was someone on the Organ Donor Register who could help them.  But unless more people are signed up, there's never going to be a match for everyone. 

I expect after last night's programme, the Organ Donor Register saw a spike in people signing up - and that's great.  I also suspect it inspired a lot of people to do charity events to raise money for the hospital.  I, myself, did a skydive four years ago to raise money for GOSH and raised over £800.  Watching the programme last night reminded me that it was all worth it and that every penny makes a huge difference to the lives of poorly children.

With regards to organ donation, it takes a matter of minutes to do and could help to prolong someone's life by decades.  If you would like to sign up, visit this link. 

It really is the greatest gift you could ever give.

Unlike Bruce Springsteen, I wasn't born to run.

It was inevitable when I said that I was taking on a challenge involving running that I would be the butt of everyone's jokes, especially as my brother is involved in the event too.

As I've previously mentioned, I don't do running.  I've never liked it and unless I get some sort of epiphany while doing this 10k, I can't see me ever liking it.  But, as I said, that's precisely why I am doing the York 10k Run For All - because by doing something I don't like/am not good at, I will raise more money.

In terms of being the butt of everyone's jokes, I'm used to that.  My dad and my brother would regularly  tease me and wind me up about how long I'd been single and what not.  Now that I am moved out and engaged, though, they had to find new ammunition - and here it is!

My brother was the first to take a swipe, getting his joke in there before everyone else when he announced on his Facebook that we were taking part in the run together...

I was quick to add that I had just ran (and jogged a bit and walked a bit) 7km in the gym that night and that my training was going fine. I don't need his help! **insert quote about being a strong, independent woman here**

My dad's was my favourite so far, though....

To be fair, this would probably be feasible.

I'll probably be at the half way point as he is finishing, so it would be a good cool down for him to come back to me and drag me the rest of the way.

Despite everyone having a joke and a giggle with me about it, we have had some really lovely messages of support from our family and friends.  And, if anything, the jokes are only motivating me to train harder and run faster.  I am one of those people that, if you tell me you don't think I can do something, I'll try ten times harder to do it, do it well, and prove you wrong.

As tempted as I will be to let Jack piggy back me round the route, I am determined to be as hot on his heels as I can manage.

We are already over a quarter of the way to our fundraising target of £500 which is amazing!!  Thank you so much to the friends and family who have already sponsored us, it means so, so much.  It's a cause very close to our family's hearts and is very poignant at the moment.

If you would like to read more about our reasons for taking part, you can visit our JustGiving page by clicking on this link.  If you have a few pennies spare, please sponsor us while you are there.  I promise I will make it worth your while and try to make the gap between me and Jack as small as possible!


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Paula Radcliffe, I'm coming for you!

Okay, that was maybe an exaggeration, I'm not actually planning on doing anything even worthy of comparing myself to Paula Radcliffe (although, we do both have asthma...)

I've done it, though - I've signed up to a challenge and, whilst it might not be a challenge to many, it certainly will be to me.

On Sunday, August 2 I will be taking part in the York 10k with my brother.

Those who know me and Jack will know that we are polar opposites when it comes to running and exercise.  He is pretty much a pro athlete - he's on an athletics scholarship at a university in America and spends every single day running and most weekends competing.  

I, on the other hand, am a pro spectator.  I know all the right cheers and all the best encouraging chants to shout as I sit on the sidelines.

But, to raise money for a charity that is now close to both of our hearts, we have decided to join forces and take on a 10k together.

Recently, our nana was diagnosed with bowel cancer and only has about a year to live. That's why we are raising money for Bowel Cancer UK - to help other people who are suffering and hopefully fund more research into this disease. Unfortunately, there's not much they can do for our nana now other than to make sure she's as comfortable and pain free as possible, but hopefully our fundraising can help save or prolong someone else's life. 

You may have read my post yesterday about feeling like I needed to make a difference and after much searching and deliberating I decided a 10k was a good way for me to start.

I am still doing the 5k Race for Life Pretty Muddy in July, which will be a nice warm-up for me ready for the 10k just four weeks later!

I don't doubt that Jack will finish the run before I'm even at 5k, but I'm not doing this to win or to set a PB (which won't be hard cos I've never run 10k before in my life!), or to beat my brother - I'm doing this to raise money, awareness and to help people.

If you would like to read more about mine & Jack's reasons for taking on this challenge (or normal Sunday run in Jack's case) then please visit our JustGiving page and, if you're feeling generous or have a bit of money to spare, please sponsor us.  

When I feel like giving up at about 1.5k, I'll need something to spur me on and remind me why I am putting myself through this torture and that will be the thought of how much money I will be raising for this worthy cause.

Please click here to read our reasons for doing this/to sponsor us :)

Recently I've been feeling like I need to make a difference...

Recently I've been feeling like I need to make a difference.  I want to look back at the end of this year and be able to say 'yes, Nat, you really did help someone and managed to make a difference with that'.

After recent events, I've been left feeling like I need to be doing something meaningful with my spare time and doing something to help people/charities/groups.  I'm lucky to be blessed with good health now and feel like I should be making the most of that to help those who aren't as fortunate as me.

Sat at work this afternoon I've been racking my brains about what I can do to set the wheels in motion and act upon this sudden desire that's washed over me.

Last weekend, I did a 25 mile bike ride for charity - and I loved every second.  Those who know me well will know that exercise isn't something I particularly enjoy doing.  I go to the gym so that I can eat rubbish food and not feel as guilty about it.  I certainly do not go for fun.  So I was surprised that I enjoyed the bike ride so much.

The fact it was sunny and the route was picturesque probably helped a lot, but it was also strictly 'not a race' and was full of people of all ages and abilities which made for a really fun, relaxed atmosphere.

After I watched the London Marathon last month I got that aching feeling in my stomach - I wanted to run a marathon.  I don't actually want to run a marathon - I could see that being a complete and utter hell for the many hours it would take me.  But that is precisely why it is the sort of thing that I would want to do for charity.  I don't want to be doing something I enjoy while raising money, because people won't sponsor me to do that.  If that was the case, I'd be doing a sponsored shop or a sponsored drinking session or a sponsored sleep.

I want to do something that is going to test me, challenge me and push me so that I know that every second I am enduring whatever it is I choose to do, someone, somewhere will be benefitting from my pain.  (I could insert a quote here about pain being temporary but I'll save that until I've chosen said challenge and overuse it then!)

In 2011 I did a skydive and raised over £700 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.  From what I can remember, I did not enjoy that for one single second.  The fact that soon after I got pneumonia and almost died encourage me to do anything like that ever again, so I'm thinking my next endeavour will see me keep both of my feet firmly on the ground.

In July, me and a couple of girls from work are doing the Pretty Muddy Race for Life, which is just like the standard 5km Race for Life but with lots of mud and an obstacle course.

The bike ride and Race for Life don't seem to be enough to satisfy this feeling that I've got of wanting to do something to help people.

I'm not sure yet who I want to help (there are some local charities I want to help raise money for as well as national charities like the British Lung Foundation and Bowel Cancer UK) or what I want to do to help them, but I am determined to do something.  And this year.

This blog post doesn't have a specific aim or reason, it's merely just to share this aching desire that I have to help with the world.  That way, I'll be more inclined to follow it up and take part in some challenges - whether it be a 10k run or a 24 hour bike ride in the gym.

Any suggestions of what I can do would be greatly appreciated.  Of course, I could set up a standing order each month and donate money to these charities but that's too easy.  I want to raise awareness as well as money and that will only happen if I push myself to my limits.

I'll keep you updated with my quest to make a difference.  Now it's in writing and on the internet I'll feel even more compelled to follow up this sudden urge that I have.  I definitely, under no circumstances, will be doing another skydive, though!

Join us to get Pretty Muddy this summer!

Me and two of the girls from work are taking part in a women-only event this summer to raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK.  Calling ourselves the Mud-Donna's, the three of us from Selby Times are getting ready to take on a new spin on the Race for Life and will be running/walking/staggering around a 5km muddy obstacle course.


The Race for Life Pretty Muddy events are taking place up and down the country during the summer months and I would really encourage as many females as possible to take part to raise money for the charity as well as awareness for all the different types of cancer that are out there.


Me, Charlotte and Kezia will be tackling the course at York Racecourse on Saturday, July 4 and are hoping to raise lots of money in the process.  We also want to encourage other women out there to take part - if not in Pretty Muddy then one of the other Race for Life events. 


Each of us have our own, personal reasons for taking part in this muddy challenge and will keep the people we are doing it for close in our hearts throughout the morning.


If getting down and dirty for 5km isn't for you, and running around a 5km/10km course doesn't tickle your fancy, then donating whatever money you can spare will be more than enough.  The work that Cancer Research UK does is vital in finding cures, treatments and ways to make those suffering at the hands of cancer more comfortable.





The #NoMakeUpSelfie campaign last year raised over £8 million in just a week and that was done simply by uploading a photo of yourself with no make-up on (or, in the case of some men, a full face of slap!)


Everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer with the horrible disease not caring who it picks to be its latest victim.  By donating towards the work done by Cancer Research UK, you could be part of the work to find a definitive cure once and for all.


If you want to join a Race for Life event, follow this link to find your nearest event.  If you don't fancy working up a sweat and tackling any of the courses or routes, but still want to help, please donate some money towards our sponsorship (or any else's - it all goes to the same place!)


The link to our Just Giving page is here - Mud-Donna's Just Giving - please donate whatever you can spare.


Together, we can beat cancer.



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