THE incredible women of Halton have been celebrated at a very special awards event.

The Queens of Halton awards were created by Fortuna Female Society – a grassroots community group for women.

Founder and chair of the awards Cllr Laura Bevan said: “We started the Queens of Halton in order to give people the opportunity to celebrate the amazing women in Halton who often make such a huge difference to people’s lives without even realising the impact they are having on those around them.

“It is an opportunity to make women feel seen and appreciated.

“Just by being nominated they know that someone thinks they’re amazing and wanted to let them know.”

Nominations for the awards opened on International Women’s Day in March open to any women and girls who live, work or study in the borough. This year there was a one-off special award as part of the Halton at 50 borough celebrations.

There were six categories open for public nomination, and the nominee details were sent to the Jo Cox Foundation who independently picked the winner of each category.

One award is named after Jo Cox herself – the former Batley MP who was murdered on her way to her regular surgery.

This year, the Jo Cox Make a Difference Award was collected by Claire Bradbury for her tireless work with young people in Halton, helping the most disadvantaged and disengaged of people.

Volunteer of the Year was named as Yvonne Hedgecock from Trinity Safe Space, Sharon Raynes was named as Ray of Light, Caroline Moss collected the Entrepreneur of the Year prize for her work with the Space in Runcorn which she founded as a welcoming environment for workshops, counselling and gatherings of all kinds.

The Rising Star was named as Larna Littler of 6th Runcorn Scout Group who has achieved her Young Leader and Duke of Edinburgh Awards while also dealing with being a young carer.

The Halton at 50 award went to former shopkeeper Valerie Anderson who delighted generations of Widnesians with her intricate, fundraising window displays at her shop in Farnworth.

As well as the awards attendees were treated to an evening of entertainment organised by Widnes-based Alibi Productions.