The Sixth Form Bolton were extremely proud to sponsor of the She Inspires Awards 2023 and on Thursday 23 November, a group of the students, alumni, governors and staff were delighted to attend the awards night at Bolton Whites Hotel hosted by BBC North West Presenter, Annabel Tiffin. Founded by Gulnaz Brennan, the awards aim to highlight and celebrate inspiring women trailblazers in Bolton and further afield.

As part of The Sixth Form’s support on the evening, their students: Alexandria Stones, a former Bedford High School student and Joseph Stones, a former Bolton St Catherine's Academy student ran the raffle table supported by students from Bolton College. They helped to raise an incredible amount of money for local youth homeless charity: Back Up North West and global charity: LittleBigHelp.

Former Sixth Form students, Aamena Makkan and Anganile Kanthonga who were both finalists, attended the event. Aamena , a former Bolton Muslim Girls School student was a finalist in the Young Achiever category and Anganile, a former Ladybridge High School student was a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year award.

First-year Triple Vocational Sport Science with Sport Performance Pathway, student, Grace Robinson was delighted to win the Young Achiever award. Alongside her studies at B6, Grace is a competitive swimmer. She is in the top three nationally within her S14 category and is on the Paralympic Pathway, She has overcome an eating disorder and her learning disability to achieve this. Grace has also written her own recipes which have been published in a book called: “A Taste of Bolton” raising money for local charity, Funding Futures.

Sixth Form Alumni member, Sannah Adam was delighted to win the Rising Star Award. Sannah is an extremely successful member of our alumni and, since leaving B6, has graduated from The University of Law, qualified as a boxing coach and visited Lebanon with Human Appeal to help deliver humanitarian aid.

Both The Sixth Form Careers Team and Marketing & Admissions Team were finalists in the Education Team of the Year category with the Careers Team taking the award. The whole team were delighted to have won with Head of Careers & Employability, Jill Whitham saying:

'We are so thrilled to receive the SheInspires award for Education Team of the Year. I have a fantastic team around me who are passionate about raising the aspirations of our students and helping them to achieve their ambitions.  Many of our students at The Sixth Form Bolton face barriers which can make it trickier to secure places on competitive degree-programmes or degree-level Apprenticeships. My team and I work tirelessly to make sure our students have access to all the support, information and career-development opportunities they need to overcome barriers and realise their goals, and this award is a wonderful acknowledgement of this.'

Everyone at The Sixth Form was delighted that the Deputy Principal, Sandra McManus won the Person With a Mission Award. Sandra has worked in 16-19 education for the last 34 years and she has developed the Sixth Form’s flagship Women into Leadership programme. The Women into Leadership Programme aims to remove as many barriers as possible for female students to enable them to follow their chosen paths in life and careers. The programme has also provided a platform to enable female learners to access support, advice and guidance from a wide range of fantastic women leaders with guest speakers including Dr Helen Wall, Clinical Director for NHS GM and Local Councillor and former Mayor of Bolton, Councillor Linda Thomas.  The programme encourages students to network with each other, explore their own ideas and career pathways and to socialise with other women. 

Sandra was thrilled to win her award saying:

“What an honour to receive such a prestigious award from a fantastic organisation that champions women in all roles in society and shares best practice in order for others to be inspired and follow in their footsteps. At the Sixth Form Bolton, we pride ourselves in the opportunities that we provide in order to provide personal development for all of our staff and learners. That said, we pay particular attention to our females, offering a Women into Leadership Programme to support social mobility, to raise aspirations and provide opportunities to employers and social networking. I was therefore thrilled to receive this special award, Person on a Mission as it has long been a personal mission of mine, throughout my career and in my wider life, to support and nurture the next generations and sponsor their personal growth and self-belief. Thank you Gulnaz and the She Inspires foundation for all that you do to support personal growth and aspiration for all, from the local to global scale!”

Congratulations once again to Grace, Sannah, the Careers Team, Sandra McManus and all finalists and winners on the evening. The Sixth Form had a fabulous evening celebrating and look forward to attending again in 2024. Find out more about the She Inspires Awards at: https://www.sheinspiresawards.com/