Everton Football Club Chief Executive Officer, Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale MBE, has been recognised for her ‘Outstanding Contribution to Merseyside’ with a prestigious award at the 16th Merseyside Women of the Year Awards.

Hosted at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Liverpool city centre, the annual awards celebrate the achievements of those women who have had a transformative impact on people’s lives across the city region.

Twelve awards were presented at the ceremony on Friday afternoon including ‘Merseyside Woman of the Year’, ‘Women’s Group’, ‘Women of Courage’ and ‘Young Female Apprentice’. Hundreds of nominations were whittled down to create the shortlist.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale was specially selected by an independent panel to receive the first-ever ‘Outstanding Contribution to Merseyside’ award, in recognition of her ‘having blazed a trail for others to follow’ through her outstanding contribution to charity and community engagement in Liverpool - both through her roles at Everton in the Community and Everton Football Club and also her work in education where she delivered intervention or engagement projects in areas of high deprivation. Denise received her award from Jean Gadsby and Ellie Kerr, founders of the awards.

Arriving at Everton in the Community in January 2010 to develop and lead a transformation strategy for the charity, Barrett-Baxendale’s immediate influence saw the organisation pick up numerous local and national awards in recognition of the positive impact it was making on thousands of people’s lives across Merseyside on a monthly basis. 

In 2014, Professor Barrett-Baxendale was appointed to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire as a Member in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List and was presented with an MBE from Her Majesty The Queen for ‘services to the Merseyside community’.

Internationally, her influence was further acknowledged when she became only the second ever recipient of the ‘Lifetime Role Model Award’ at the Football Is More Conference in Switzerland, while under her stewardship Everton in the Community received Liverpool’s highest civic honour, the Freedom of the City as part of the charity’s 30th anniversary celebrations in January 2018.

Speaking after being presented with her award, Everton CEO Barrett-Baxendale said: “I’m honoured to receive this award in the company of such inspirational females from across Merseyside. Although I have been presented with this accolade, one of our values at Everton Football Club is ‘family’ and this award is testament to the hard work and teamwork that is shown every day by the Club, our fans and everyone at Everton in the Community who all work tirelessly to help drive us forward and make these positive contributions in people’s lives.

"I’d like to dedicate this award to the fantastic and inspiring family I have around me at Everton Football Club.”

For more information on the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards visit https://merseysidewomenoftheyear.co.uk/