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Michelle O\u2019Dwyer <\/p>\nMichelle O\u2019Dwyer had a difficult upbringing. At one point she and her family were homeless, and she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor with nothing but the clothes on her back.
\nMichelle says: <\/p>\n
\u201cFor such a long time, it was a hard life, I saw my mum struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
But despite difficulties at school and mental health battles which plagued her for years, the 51-year-old from North Liverpool went on to become a successful chef, establishing her own Bay Tree Catering company and working freelance \u2013 which saw her cooking for the committee at the 2012 Olympics and taking on the role of executive chef for the 2017 Ryder Cup and more.<\/p>\n
In 2016 though, Michelle put her creativity and determination into passions more personal, launching the charity Community Christmas Dinner which has meant hundreds of people every year don\u2019t spend Christmas on their own and, in 2017, setting up Bay Tree Cookery Academy CIC which works with communities and organisations across the North West teaching health, budgeting, teamwork and wellbeing, as well as international cuisine.<\/p>\n
Michelle O\u2019Dwyer, who was named this year\u2019s Merseyside Woman of the Year, admits that if she\u2019d not learned to deal with the hurt and hardship: <\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have killed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she says: <\/p>\n
\u201cI turned my trauma into a superpower. I use it to fuel me and enable me to do everything I do, turning that negativity into a positive to pay it forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can choose to let trauma take over your life, or you can choose to own it, learn from it, and refuse to let it define you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat choice hasn\u2019t been easy, but it\u2019s one I\u2019ve made every day.<\/p>\n
Michelle O\u2019Dwyer <\/p>\n
\u201cI use my experiences to give me strength,\u201d Michelle, who\u2019s also worked in adult education, adds. \u201cThey drive me to help others in my everyday life and to show compassion where it\u2019s needed most, and to channel that energy too into the endurance challenges that help raise money to do what I do \u2026 and which remind me I\u2019m capable of more than I ever believed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t always choose what happens to us, but we can choose what we do next. My past may shape me but it doesn\u2019t have to limit me, and I want to help all those people who have struggled like me.\u00a0 That\u2019s my inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle was revealed as Merseyside Woman of the Year at the prestigious annual award ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Liverpool City Centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Organisers recognised her unwavering commitment to eradicating hunger and fostering inclusivity through pioneering solutions like recipe kits with virtual cookery classes to helping people not only develop practical skills and connect with others, but also in creating welcoming spaces for diverse groups and promoting \u2018celebration, dignity, and inclusion by allowing people to come together and feel a sense of belonging\u2019.<\/p>\n
Michelle said: <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you meet people and they\u2019re so lovely, and you see them smiling and feeling the support of that community, that\u2019s when I feel happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was when Michelle was struggling herself that she started doing the work for which she has now been rightly feted and praised.<\/p>\n
She started volunteering in 2015 with St Andrew\u2019s Community Network and helped out with their foodbank. Then in 2016 she volunteered at the Joseph Lappin Centre in Old Swan before cooking Christmas dinner in a rehab centre: <\/p>\n
\u201cAll of that happened after someone was kind to me when I was suffering from depression. They helped me when I was at my lowest and it made me realise there was a different way of living.\u201d<\/p>\n
That led to her annual Community Christmas Dinners for those who\u2019d otherwise be left on their own on Christmas Day, and then the cookery academy.<\/p>\n
Each year, as well as doing this inspiring work, she takes on epic challenges to help fund it \u2013 last year braving Everest base camp in a blizzard, and the year before cycling 300 miles around Vietnam. (She even managed the Magaluf Half Marathon last year to raise money for Alfie\u2019s Squad!).<\/p>\n
![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Michelle-getting-ready-for-her-next-challenge-e1783354586691.jpeg\")
Michelle O\u2019Dwyer <\/p>\n
This year she is planning to complete the Across Mersey Swim Try4Life, and compete in her first ever ultramarathon in November.<\/p>\n
MWOTY Founding Director, Ellie Kerr, says:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMichelle\u2019s work is deeply rooted in her own experience of poverty, homelessness and adversity during her childhood. Developing her passion for cooking at an early age, learning from her grandmother while also being responsible for her younger siblings, she has transformed her lived experience into a mission to ensure that \u2013 in her own words \u2013 \u2018no one goes hungry on my watch\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has remained focused on that mission and touched thousands of lives, not just by addressing food poverty and social isolation, but also championing inclusivity, empowering individuals and communities and allowing those facing adversity to reclaim hope and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle O\u2019Dwyer, now has a podcast \u2013 Michelle\u2019s Community Kitchen Podcast, putting the spotlight on ordinary people doing extraordinary things.<\/p>\n
She says: <\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy my job, I enjoy what I do, and I was shaking when I was named as Woman of the Year. I nearly gave it legs and ran out of the door. I was a wreck.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get my endurance and determination from my mum, Roz Gladden. She never gave up and went on to do a Master\u2019s degree in history and became Lord Mayor of Liverpool!<\/p>\n
\u201cI never want to see anyone else overwhelmed or feeling alone and I suppose what I do is righting a wrong that I lived through, and when you have a nice life, a roof over your head and the ability to pay your bills, you should pay it forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have gone full circle, show kindness. I\u2019m helping people who\u2019re like me and showing there\u2019s room at the table for everyone, and that everyone matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever sit back and think job done. The more you see and the more people you meet, the more you know needs to be done.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there is life after trauma. Like I said, it\u2019s my superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle was one of 13 winners revealed at this year\u2019s MWOTY awards, celebrated across a range of categories for supporting and improving the lives of people in Merseyside and beyond.<\/p>\n
Other winners included:<\/p>\n
Jude McMaster\u00a0\u2013 Social Impact\u00a0award for her work as the founder of\u00a0Pearl\u2019s\u00a0Project<\/p>\n
Suzanne Daley \u2013 Women in Professional Services<\/p>\n
Lucy Byrne, founder of\u00a0dot-art, \u2013 winner of the\u00a0Arts, Culture & Media\u00a0award<\/p>\n
Sharon Munroe \u2013 The\u00a0Inspirational Women\u00a0award<\/p>\n
Hayley Smith and Leanne Lucas \u2013 The\u00a0Women of Courage\u00a0award<\/p>\n
Saba Ahmen \u2013 The\u00a0Fellowship\u00a0Award<\/p>\n
Gillian Watkinson \u2013 The Community Leader award<\/p>\n
Liverpool Feds W.F.C (Janie Moore and Sue Carmichael) \u2013\u00a0Women\u2019s Group\u00a0award<\/p>\n
Debs Paterson, physiotherapist and founder of\u00a0Pilates by Physio \u2013 winner of the\u00a0Entrepreneur category<\/p>\n
Dr Deb Faint MBE -The\u00a0Women Making a Difference\u00a0award\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lindsey Kidd\u00a0from\u00a0HM3 Legal\u00a0\u2013 Business Leader\u00a0award\u00a0<\/p>\n
Full information on all winners and finalists can be found <\/strong>here.<\/a> Find out what\u2019s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North \u2013 visit\u00a0thenorthernguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram\u00a0HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nGet more news from around Liverpool here.<\/a><\/p>\n