Wigan teacher wins prestigious award at an international competition for the determination she has shown while battling a physical disability

Emma Rimmer, 34, from Springfield, teaches at Hope School in Marus Bridge and won the HER Abilities category at the 2021 She Inspires Awards.

After fighting off tough competition she was able to claim the award for her work with her business The Artists Bookshelf, which has provided a positive contribution to the community.

She said: “I was absolutely delighted to win, I was in complete shock. The competition was very strong this year and there were some amazing finalists.

“I’m very grateful for the nomination and hope to build on my work by supporting local schools, nurseries, businesses and charities.

“It has given me a mental escape over the past 18 months and I use it to support others in our local community, which means a lot to me.”

Emma was diagnosed with a benign Desmoid Fibromatosis Tumour in her left hip in December 2018, after she had struggled with pain and movement following her pregnancy a few years prior.

Since then, she has battled continuously with nerve pain, with her mobility dramatically affected.

She said: “They originally thought it was pelvic girdle pain and that I’d bounce back after having the baby.

“I had an examination and they said I had the movement in my hip of someone in their 80s, so that’s when they found it was a tumour. Different medications and injections have been tried, but I fell into a category of people who don’t respond to pain relief. I’m due to start a clinical trial and we are hoping to get some positive results.

“I have to try anything they can throw at me, to find that one thing that works, because before this I was the type of person who did seven gym classes over five days and ran 10k’s, but now I walk with a stick, so my life has completely changed.”

Despite this, she has continued in her role as a teacher, alongside starting her own business and being a mother to her four-year-old boy.

She has supported small businesses, including UK authors through collaborations and networking, as well as working with local charities AIM Northwest and Mytime to support victims of domestic abuse and unpaid carers in Wigan.

Furthermore, Emma is hoping to help more schools and nurseries in the Wigan area, in order to promote reading to local children.

She said: “This condition hasn’t made me want to give up. I want to keep being a teacher for as long as I can, and I started running my side business in lockdown to have that plan B in place. I wanted to have something connected to education with links to schools.”

Her good work led to her being recognised in the seventh edition of the She Inspires Awards, which were held at the Bolton Whites Hotel and online, with BBC North-West presenter Annabel Tiffin hosting the occasion.

After going national last year, the awards have now become international for the first time.

Entries came from countries including Denmark, India, South Africa, the United States, the UAE, Australia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Turkey as well as from across the UK.

Awards’ organiser Gulnaz Brennan said: “The quality of the nominations has been really outstanding. We had 145 finalists in 18 categories and the job of the judges was particularly difficult.

“Opening up the awards internationally has proved very successful this year and we plan on repeating this next year.”

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