Ironbridge awards celebrate success of achievers with dyslexia

The Dyslexia Awards took place at Enginuity in Ironbridge - and the glittering bash was attended by more than 100 people.

The categories included learning support, teaching, art, entrepreneur, innovation, supportive employer, community shining star, adult shining star and inspirational shining star.

Founder Elizabeth Wilkinson, who is dyslexic, said the ceremony was enjoyed by all and that it was important to celebrate achievements of people with dyslexia.

"I founded the awards in 2015 because I didn't think we shouted about the things we do well," she said.

"It's important to help people with dyslexia realise that they do have skills that are valuable.

"We had 110 people who came and everyone had a good time. I always love to see people smiling after they win an award.

Positives

"People assume it's just that you struggle with reading and writing, but there are other things like short-term memory, learning new skills and processing sounds. But we often excel when it comes to attention to detail and long term memory.

"It's all about focusing on the positives."

A double winner on the night was Natalie Pietrzyk from Elite Support at Home. Natalie's business offers tailored support to adults and children with a variety of needs, and does extensive work with people who have challenging behaviours that other organisations have difficultly supporting. She won the supportive employer and entrepreneur awards.

Elizabeth added: "She left school with maybe not as many qualifications as she would have wanted. She was working as a carer and spotted a hole in the market."

Other winners included Izzy Langford, who won the community shining star award.