2019
INSPIRING
OTHERS
Sponsored by SABIC
WINNER:
C AT H E R I N E
DEVEREUX
(RUSS DEVEREUX
HEADLIGHT PROJECT)
Trying to prevent other families from
experiencing the pain and suffering hers
has spurred Catherine Devereux into
setting up a very special charity.
Until last year Catherine was a happily
married mum of three young daughters,
but her life changed when she lost her
loving husband, Russ, through suicide
after a brief mental illness.
In Russ’s memory, Catherine launched
the Russ Devereux Headlight Project to
deliver emotional resilience programmes
in Teesside schools and develop an
adult suicide prevention service.
“What happened to Russ made me
realise it could happen to anybody,”
Catherine said. “He was kind, gentle and
he had no ego.
“He was very level-headed and easy-
going, he loved golf and football and he
worked very hard in the family business.
His death has caused a massive hole
in our family. It’s something we never
thought would happen to us.
“I’m delighted I’ve won this award but
it’s not about me, it’s about what we’re
trying to achieve for people who have
gone through what we have.
“If we can teach children about mental
health and suicide prevention and make
it better in even a tiny way for other
families, then we will have done a good
job.”
FINALIST: FINALIST:
Professor
Jane Turner OBE Ellie Rees
After a distinguished business and
academic career, Jane became
Teesside University’s pro vice-chancellor
enterprise and business engagement
in 2015, a role that requires reputation,
networks and the ability to inspire. Jane
continues to do this despite living with
very late-stage ovarian cancer, speaking
openly about her illness and encouraging
others to see there’s a future after
cancer, even if you cannot say how
long this future will last. She is also
an ambassador for the charity Target
Ovarian Cancer, is working on a book
about inspirational women and with local
charity Rubies to devise a mentoring
scheme for girls.
Social media star Ellie’s lifestyle blog
Your Daily Dose of Style has a readership
of 250,000. She is also the founder
of Collab Media, a 24/7 social media
consultancy based in the heart of
Teesside that now helps more than 50
independent businesses with their social
media needs. In 2018 she established
Women in Collaboration, a free women’s
networking group that meets monthly
across the area and aims to change
how networking events are run. She
is passionate about building genuine
business relationships and wants to
inspire other female business owners to
do the same.
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE
SABIC’s Nicola Duffey said: “We decided to do things a little
differently this year and filled our table at the awards event
with ladies from a variety of charities and organisations who
do some incredibly inspiring work in the community.
“SABIC hope that the Tees Businesswomen Awards event
will inspire our guests even more – and we further hope that
in the very near future one or more of them will be standing
on the stage collecting an award - or maybe it will be one of
the people they have inspired!
“It was a an incredibly difficult decision to make in
choosing just one winner for the Inspiring Others Award,
with so many great entries to judge.
“The three shortlisted – Ellie Rees, Catherine Devereux
and Jane Turner - truly are inspiring businesswomen.
But there could only be one winner and that had to be
Catherine.”