Lifeline Women of Spirit Awards
Icon Water sponsors the Lifeline Women of Spirit Awards every year. On Wednesday 29 August 2018 the Women of Spirit Awards was held at the National Portrait Gallery.
Eleven amazing women were nominated, each sharing a beautiful story of strength, passion and resilience. The Women of Spirit Awards is one small way to thank these incredible women and remind them how special they are. The Awards have grown substantially over the past few years and are now bigger than ever before!
Congratulations to Clare Sheehan for winning this year’s Rising Woman of Spirit Award and congratulations to Yvonne Anthoney, winner of the 2018 Woman of Spirit Award.
When Clare was a child she was subject to sexual abuse for a number of years. This trauma impacted her mental and emotional well-being, confidence and self-esteem. When she was 17 she finally spoke to police and disclosed the abuse which began the formal process of having her abuser held accountable for his behaviour.
She became a qualified youth worker and began working in residential care with children who had too experienced trauma and abuse. Clare has created her own business, running coaching programs and events to empower men and women to love themselves in the skin they’re in and to live empowering and meaningful lives. Having already hosted a number of successful Canberra based events with excellent feedback, Clare’s larger goal is to run events across Australia and the world to empower people to live a life of their choosing. Clare is an example of someone who has turned their greatest pain into their greatest strength and wants to help others to do the same.
Yvonne’s daughter Dainere was diagnosed with High Risk Medulloblastoma in 2009 at 11 years of age. Over the next four years, Dainere and her family battled through numerous treatments including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Dainere tragically died in 2013 after suffering an inoperable and incurable recurrence of the disease but she left some mighty ideas for her work to go on. Dainere was 15 years old and was and is an incredibly beloved daughter.
Since Dainere’s passing, her mother Yvonne has worked every day to continue raising awareness and money to fight the battle against cancer. She established Dainere’s Rainbow foundation and has helped to raise over $300,000 for research. She has organised information stalls and fundraising events, and has been instrumental in helping to set up better paediatric palliative care services at Clare Holland house.