Congratulations to our Helen Bailey blog award winner

September 2023

Huge congratulations to WAY Ambassador Emma Charlesworth, who’s the winner of this year’s Helen Bailey Award for best WAY blogger. She set up her blog Life is a rollercoaster after her husband died of Covid in 2020.

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WAY set up the 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.

Emma was announced as the winner of this year’s award at the 2023 WAY AGM and Annual Gathering in Bristol and was on hand to receive the award in person. She said:

“There are so many great bloggers who are part of WAY that I find it incredibly humbling to even be nominated. When I first started writing, I didn’t expect anyone to read my words. I don’t really write for others. I don’t sit down at the start of the month and plan what I’m going to write. I only really write when I have something to say. But I have grown to find it so incredibly cathartic. I often write before I go to sleep because it helps me get thoughts out of my head. It helps me to try to get a bit of clarity in my life.”

Fittingly, Emma has written a blog about the award here

Congratulations to all our nominees!

Congratulations to all of our wonderful nominees, 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.