A RYEDALE woman was runner up in a major regional award organised by the West Yorkshire based ‘Inspiring Women Changemakers’.

Caroline Davis, from Hovingham, was awarded a Certificate of Recognition in the awards for her outstanding contribution towards Ryedale’s fight against the fracking industry and her central role in community life in the village where she lives.

The judges at the awards said: "Caroline has such compassion, empathy, integrity, and clarity of thinking, all of which have been key to keeping the Ryedale opposition to fracking going strong on the road over the last six years.

"She has demonstrated persistence, willingness to try new things, and the ability to reach out to neighbouring areas and community groups."

Caroline was put forward for the Awards by fellow campaigners Adela Pickles, Chris Pickles, Chris Redston and Steve Mason, who said: "Caroline’s energy, flexibility and resourcefulness have enabled individuals from all walks of life to have their voices heard in the fracking campaign and in doing so she has harnessed and valued their strengths and skills to build an effective campaign at a local and national level. Caroline champions community and the voices of local people and alongside her campaigning commitments has also been involved in projects in her local village, across Ryedale and national networks enabling local communities to flourish.

They added: "Caroline is passionate about community engagement introducing and developing an effective social media presence for the monthly Hovingham market, setting up and facilitating communities involved in the Ryedale Community Charter, and committed to Hovingham’s Project Purple, a community group with a number of objectives, including recycling, reusing and repairing more stuff, reducing our demand on raw materials; improving home energy efficiency and renewable energy."

"Caroline is involved with many projects and is effective in quickly learning new skills, communicating, networking and inspiring others to be involved in initiatives eg building websites, writing newsletters, facilitating meetings and being a trusted sounding board for ideas.

Inspiring Women Changemakers, aims to recognise women who are making a positive difference at work or in society

Caroline said she was delighted to receive the award.

"This nomination is a surprise and means a lot to me," she added.

" I’ve met and worked with so many fabulous people in Hovingham, across Ryedale and the UK, and together we’ve made a difference. I believe in seeking the truth and finding ways to "speak truth to power” to create a better, less harmful world, grassroots up.”