Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Awards: Accolades given to 15 women to honour their work

Fifteen women took home awards across 10 categories including business, sport, health and the arts at the Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Awards on Sunday, March 7.

The awards, held by Pamodzi Creatives, are now in their third year and celebrate women throughout the Portsmouth area who have stood out within their fields over the last 12 months.

The ceremony is usually a big date in the diary with hundreds of people attending to enjoy entertainment and receive their awards but due to the current situation, the celebration was moved online.

The event was premiered on the Pamodzi Creatives YouTube channel on March 7, coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8.

It was filmed over two days prior to the premiere at the New Theatre Royal in a Covid-safe, socially distanced way.

Award recipients came in for 45-minute slots to receive their awards and join hosts, Fabulous Josh and Amba Tremaine in answering questions and giving their thanks.

They also recorded interviews for the Pamodzi podcast and YouTube channel, chatting to nominees and other inspirational women in the city.

Founder of Pamodzi Creatives, Roni Edwards, who organised the awards, said: ‘Producing this during lockdown was an immense challenge and would not have been feasible without the incredible energy of our hosts Amba Tremain and Fabulous Josh as well as the creative team working behind the scenes, all of whom volunteered a lot of time for the awards.

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‘We don’t use the term winners, because we recognise that behind every woman or girl making a positive impact in her community, there is a whole tribe of women behind her, holding her up and supporting her in different ways. The award is for the whole tribe.’

Recipients included Charla Grant, who runs The Grateful Hearts Club, who took home an award for business, girl band Guilt Trippin’, who received one for The Arts and Councillor Suzy Horton, who was the recipient for the Inspirational Elder category.

The event recordings were captured and produced by Joe Hill from Over the Hill Productions and Gavin Mann from Voyage Creatives and the photography was done by Jennifer Sanchez from Liberty Photography and Jon Gray.

Full list of recipients:

The Arts: Guilt Trippin’ and Pippa Bostock

Business: Charla Grant and Sarah Lewis

Health: Lynn Taylor

The Anita Godson Community Awards: Jeanette Warren

Role Model: Kirsty Mellor

Inspirational Elder: Cllr Suzy Horton

Inspirational Young Woman: Keelie Sanderson

Inspirational Young Woman: Sports (The Claire Marsh Foundation): Emma Walker

Sports: Jessica Whitbourn

Community Awards: Rachel Layton, Charlotte Gerada, Sophie Baker and Becca Dean

To watch the full ceremony go to youtube.com/watch?v=2JQB3JCVY38&t=1876s

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