Merseyside Woman of the Year Michelle turned trauma into a superpower to pay it forward

Michelle O’Dwyer 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.

Michelle says:

“For such a long time, it was a hard life, I saw my mum struggling.”

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 – 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.

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’t 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.

Michelle O’Dwyer, who was named this year’s Merseyside Woman of the Year, admits that if she’d not learned to deal with the hurt and hardship:

“It would have killed me.”

But she says:

“I 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.

“You 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.

“That choice hasn’t been easy, but it’s one I’ve made every day.

“I use my experiences to give me strength,” Michelle, who’s also worked in adult education, adds. “They drive me to help others in my everyday life and to show compassion where it’s needed most, and to channel that energy too into the endurance challenges that help raise money to do what I do … and which remind me I’m capable of more than I ever believed.

“We can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can choose what we do next. My past may shape me but it doesn’t have to limit me, and I want to help all those people who have struggled like me.  That’s my inspiration.”

Michelle was revealed as Merseyside Woman of the Year at the prestigious annual award ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Liverpool City Centre. 

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 ‘celebration, dignity, and inclusion by allowing people to come together and feel a sense of belonging’.

Michelle said:

“When you meet people and they’re so lovely, and you see them smiling and feeling the support of that community, that’s when I feel happy.”

It was when Michelle was struggling herself that she started doing the work for which she has now been rightly feted and praised.

She started volunteering in 2015 with St Andrew’s 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:

“All 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.”

That led to her annual Community Christmas Dinners for those who’d otherwise be left on their own on Christmas Day, and then the cookery academy.

Each year, as well as doing this inspiring work, she takes on epic challenges to help fund it – 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’s Squad!).

This year she is planning to complete the Across Mersey Swim Try4Life, and compete in her first ever ultramarathon in November.

MWOTY Founding Director, Ellie Kerr, says: 

“Michelle’s 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 – in her own words – ‘no one goes hungry on my watch’.

“She 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.”

Michelle O’Dwyer, now has a podcast – Michelle’s Community Kitchen Podcast, putting the spotlight on ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

She says:

“I 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.

“I get my endurance and determination from my mum, Roz Gladden. She never gave up and went on to do a Master’s degree in history and became Lord Mayor of Liverpool!

“I 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.

“When you have gone full circle, show kindness. I’m helping people who’re like me and showing there’s room at the table for everyone, and that everyone matters.

“I don’t think I’ll 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.

“But there is life after trauma. Like I said, it’s my superpower.”

Michelle was one of 13 winners revealed at this year’s MWOTY awards, celebrated across a range of categories for supporting and improving the lives of people in Merseyside and beyond.

Other winners included:

Jude McMaster – Social Impact award for her work as the founder of Pearl’s Project

Suzanne Daley – Women in Professional Services

Lucy Byrne, founder of dot-art, – winner of the Arts, Culture & Media award

Sharon Munroe – The Inspirational Women award

Hayley Smith and Leanne Lucas – The Women of Courage award

Saba Ahmen – The Fellowship Award

Gillian Watkinson – The Community Leader award

Liverpool Feds W.F.C (Janie Moore and Sue Carmichael) – Women’s Group award

Debs Paterson, physiotherapist and founder of Pilates by Physio – winner of the Entrepreneur category

Dr Deb Faint MBE -The Women Making a Difference award 

Lindsey Kidd from HM3 Legal – Business Leader award 

Full information on all winners and finalists can be found here.

Get more news from around Liverpool here.

Find out what’s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide. 

From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North – visit thenorthernguide.com and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram HERE.