A Church Mission Society mission partner, Susie Hart, has won one of just four awards given at the prestigious Women of the Year lunch held today on Park Lane.

Listen to an interview with Susie

Susie won the Window to the World award for her work with Neema Crafts in Tanzania, which trains and employs marginalised deaf and disabled people.

She described it as a "huge honour and a massive privilege" and said she had accepted the award on behalf of all the people at Neema Crafts in recognition of their incredible achievements.

It was those achievements that caught the attention of comedian and radio presenter Sandi Toksvig, who nominated Susie for the award.

"I’m hoping it will help to raise the profile of Neema Crafts and raise the awareness of the issues of stigma that disabled people in the developing world are facing," said Susie today. "It's nice to see people recognised for their abilities not their disabilities."

Fellow award winners were Annie Lennox, architect Zaha Hadid and Shara Brice, the inspirational leader of the Ascension Eagles cheerleading squad in east London.

Brice created the team after moving to a parish in Newham, east London, with her husband Jonathan who was vicar there. Drawn from one of the poorest areas in Britain, the Eagles soon became Britain’s top – and most ethnically diverse – cheerleading team.

Started in 2003, Neema Crafts has grown from a tiny workshop with three young deaf trainees to become a landmark in Iringa, Tanzania (as visited by Sandi Toksvig in the Bank Holiday edition of Radio 4’s Excess Baggage).

It now employs more than 100 deaf and disabled artisans who have received training in jewellery-making, weaving, paper making (the infamous elephant dung Christmas cards!) and their café won the Best Restaurant category in the Daily Telegraph’s Best of British competition earlier this year.

See pictures of Susie with Annie Lennox

Watch the video of Susie telling the story of Neema Crafts screened during the awards ceremony

Published: 16:40 11 October 2010  |  2384 views
Last updated: 26 October 2010
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