Academic is celebrated with an Inspiring Women Worldwide Award

An academic at the University of Chester has received the prestigious WIN Manchester Inspiring Women Worldwide Award for her tireless work in recognising and supporting female success.

Jacqueline Hughes Lundy is a Senior Lecturer in Hospitality, Tourism and Events at the University’s Business School. Each year, WIN honours distinguished women for their dedication and hard work, women who have inspired others while being an authentic, global and feminine leader. In keeping with WIN’s own mission, it looks for women who develop others and mobilise people to succeed and shape a thriving future. These women model the WIN principles of global, authentic, holistic, practical, innovative, interconnected, and focused on possibilities. Awards are presented at the Global WIN Conference as well as regional conferences in Japan, India and the UK.

Jacqueline is the founder of the Inspiring Women Awards, which has given women a platform to be recognised; for the public to say thank you and for them to continue their inspiring work for the past 28 years. The organisation recognises women across many sectors: business, social enterprise, community, sport, arts, media, public sector and frontline staff and more. For many, their stories and achievements would have gone unrecognised if it were not for the awards – ‘It is WIN’s pleasure to shine the light on a woman who has in turn raised the voices of so many others’.

Jacqueline said: “The Award came as such a shock, made all the more special by the esteemed company I am now keeping alongside other WIN inspiring women worldwide award winners.”

She added: “Following a number of miscarriages in the early years of Tommy’s Campaign (a charity researching the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth and birth defects), I organised a Tommy’s charity fundraiser at my son’s nursery. Interviewed by the local paper, I was asked what I intended to do next. My brain thought, well I think I’ve done my bit, my mouth, however had other ideas and there it ended up in print – a fundraising lunch. This was in 1992, where there were little or no events organised for women and I didn’t have any rich friends, so I had to think of a hook and so the North West Woman of Achievement Awards (later to become the Inspiring Women Awards), was born.

“We found our first Inspiring woman through public nominations (as we still do) in pre-internet and email days posing hundreds of nomination forms out and using local press. The Lunch went well, attended by a number of Coronation Street stars and raised a substantial sum for Tommy’s Campaign. I was six months pregnant with my daughter and still working full time. Once again, I thought I had ‘done my bit’ until I received a phone call a few months later from someone who had attended and wanted to book a corporate table for ‘next year’. Whilst my brain once again said, ‘oh gosh no’ my mouth said ‘fantastic, yes of course’. Whilst no longer a charity lunch, but an awards lunch supporting a charity, the Awards has raised thousands of pounds for related charities: Tommy’s Campaign; The Samaritans fund at The Christie; Prince’s Trust Styal Women’s prison project; Red Cross project teaching camouflage make-up techniques to victims of self-harming and the Rainmakers Foundation which matched grants to women and girls’ projects.”

In 2010, the 18th anniversary of the Awards, Jacqueline introduced the Inspiring Young Woman Award (IYWA) for 16-25 year-olds, inspiring the next generation. She also set up the Inspiring Young Woman Foundation to fund £1,000 bursaries for the winners of the IYWA and fund projects aimed at this age group. In 2019, an outreach project at Warrington Youth Club was funded by the Foundation to support vulnerable young women. This year funding has also been released via Cheshire Community Foundation to support groups whose fundraising efforts have been adversely affected by COVID-19. 

WIN Manchester is a WIN-curated leadership event for professional women and men, took place this year online on 18 June 2020. The event is hosted by WIN, a global women’s leadership initiative based in Lausanne, Switzerland and was the first conference in the organisation’s 20-year history to be held entirely online.

For information about WIN Manchester, please visit www.winconference.net

For more information about the Inspiring Women Awards, please visit https://www.inspiringawards.co.uk/

Pictured - Jacqueline Hughes Lundy.