Congratulations to our 2024 annual award winners
September 2024
Huge congratulations to the winners of our two annual awards, whose names were revealed at our AGM in Crewe on 21 September. Find out more…
Mandy Burrows Award winner
Congratulations to WAY volunteer Scott, who’s the winner of this year’s Mandy Burrows Award for a member who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help other young widowed people.
Scott was nominated for his work hosting WAY’s online pub quiz on Friday nights over the past four years, as well as volunteering in his local area and helping to host New Member Zooms.
“I like to think I have helped members by just understanding what they are going through from a personal perspective,” Scott said. “I have been a widow now for nine years and struggled a lot before I joined WAY. Now, by hosting the quiz, I help people make friends so they can feel like they are just a normal person and maybe forget that they are a widow – even if it’s just for a few hours – with some light-hearted friendly banter.”
Mandy Burrows was a WAY member who died at the age of just 30 in January 2014. Many members and friends donated money to a collection for WAY at her funeral and we decided that the best way to remember Mandy for many years to come was to use these funds for a memorial award.
Congratulations to all our fabulous nominees!
Congratulations to all the wonderful nominees who were put forward by fellow WAY members for this year’s award. The winner was decided by WAY’s Board of Trustees.
Read more about our brilliant nominees and why they were nominated
Helen Bailey Award winner
Congratulations to WAY member Claudia, who’s the winner of this year’s Helen Bailey Award for best WAY blogger. Claudia set up her blog The Widow Diary after she was widowed to suicide in 2020.
WAY launched this award in memory of late WAY member Helen Bailey, who helped so many young widows and widowers through her blog Planet Grief and her book When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis.
“Last December I decided to give hope to others by telling my story,” said Claudia. “It is not easy being widowed to suicide. There is still lot of stigma around suicide – and guilt. I decided to talk about my journey in the hope that could help others in the same journey…”
Read a post from Claudia written for World Suicide Prevention Day…
Congratulations to all our nominees!
Congratulations to all the wonderful nominees – Claudia, Darren, Jackie and Sarah – who were put forward by fellow WAY members for this year’s award. The winner was also decided by WAY members’ votes.
Read more about our brilliant nominees and the blogs they were nominated for.
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