Cherie Blair to open 2022 Merseyside Women of the Year Awards - finalists revealed, date, venue and tickets

Cherie Blair is set to open the 2022 Merseyside Women of the Year (MWOTY) awards ceremony, in a year that has seen the awards ceremony’s largest-ever number of nominations.

Brought up in Waterloo in Sefton, the barrister and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women has been invited to open the July 1 event in recognition of her commitment to empowering women in Merseyside.

The wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair has been a patron of the Community Foundation for Merseyside for 16 years - an organisation which sponsors the Inspirational Woman category at MWOTY.

Cherie Blair CBE QC, said: “As someone both passionate about Merseyside and seeing women empowered to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals, I am tremendously excited to support the forthcoming Merseyside Women of the Year Awards.

“It promises to be an inspirational event and I look forward to learning more about the remarkable achievements of all the wonderful finalists.”

When and where the awards will be held

The awards return to the Crowne Plaza in Liverpool city centre on Friday, July 1, for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Nominations for this year’s ceremony closed at the end of last month with a total of 80 entries - the most to be received in the event’s 12-year history.

Whittled down to 18 finalists, the overall Merseyside Woman of the Year 2022 will be selected following a public vote, which accounts for 50% of the overall score, and being marked by the organisation’s judging panel for the remaining 50% of the final score.

To book tickets or find out more, visit: ​https://merseysidewomenoftheyear.co.uk/

Merseyside Women of the Year Awards 2022 finalists

Eighteen courageous and inspirational women making a difference in Merseyside have been revealed as finalists in the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards 2022.

● Afrah Qassim – CEO and Founder, Savera UK (Liverpool)

● Amanda O’Keefe - Beauty Therapist and Charity Fundraiser (Wirral)

● Ashton Tansey - Founder, Doyenne Network (Liverpool)

● Barbara Rouse - Community Volunteer (Sefton)

● Colette Goulding - Assistant CEO, The Big Help Project (Liverpool)

● Dawn Coker - CEO, Access2Funding (Wirral)

● Debbie Rogers - Founder, Sean’s Place (Sefton)

● Deborah Stephens - CEO, Fun 4 Kidz and Community Volunteer (Sefton)

● Ithalia Forel - Co-Director, Movema (Liverpool)

● Jennifer Greenan - Co-founder and Director of E-Verve Energy Ltd (St Helens)

● Jubeda Khatun - Director, BlackFest (Liverpool)

● Karina Molby - Founder, Designer & Creative Director, Molby the Label (Wirral)

● Lynsay Armbruster - Detective Inspector, Merseyside Police (Liverpool)

● Natalie Denny – Writer, EDI Consultant for Anthony Walker Foundation and Director of Skywriters LTD (Liverpool)

● Dr Natalie Kenny - CEO, BioGrad Group (Liverpool)

● Olivia Hanlon - Founder, Girls in Marketing (Liverpool)

● Rachel Daley - Founder, Positivitree (Wirral)

● Rebecca Taylor - CEO, Aquarate (Liverpool)

Ellie Kerr, founding director of MWOTY, said: “As ever, I was bowled over by the quality of the entries and humbled by the fantastic women we have in our region.

“Every one of them is already a winner in our eyes and we’re looking forward to celebrating them and their achievements.”

What are the Merseyside Women of the Year awards?

The MWOTY awards is an annual event celebrating the achievements of women from across the region.

It focuses on rewarding the business leaders, entrepreneurs, community activists and individuals who are changing the lives of people from Merseyside and beyond.

As well as celebrating women and their achievements, the event aims to leave a legacy of amazing role models to inspire and support future generations of women.

Ellie Kerr is now the sole founding director, after being its first winner of MWOTY in 2003 and taking over the organisation of the awards in 2010.

The MWOTY Awards exist to celebrate the achievements of all women and entries are open to anyone who identifies as a woman or non-binary.