Inventor Emily is a Woman of the Year (From Craven Herald)

Inventor Emily is a Woman of the Year

11:30am Friday 16th October 2009

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An inventor who developed her first products as a teenager living in South Craven has been named a Woman of the Year.

Emily Cummins, 23, formerly of Cross Hills, received the award at a celebrity-packed ceremony in London.

Miss Cummins, a former pupil of South Craven School, was 15 when she developed her first idea – a toothpaste dispenser for arthritic people who are unable to squeeze a traditional tube.

Her latest project is to continue to develop her solar-powered refrigerator.

Speaking at the 54th annual Women of the Year Lunch, she said: “Sometimes in Britain we can make life too complicated. We assume the answer lies in complicated technology. We all have the ability to inspire and help each other in our daily lives.”

Miss Cummins, now of Leeds, traces her gift for inventing back to when she was given a hammer by her grandfather as a four-year-old. She passed hours in his garden shed creating things from scraps left over from the toys he made.

Her other inventions include a water carrier for people in Kenya, allowing them to carry up to five containers.

She recently spent a gap year in Africa to test her fridge and to teach local people how to make it.

Last year she was one of 20 women shortlisted in the Real Women category of the Ultimate Woman of Britain award sponsored by Cosmo-politan magazine.

She also received a Technology Women of the Future award in 2006 and was named British Female Inventor of the Year in 2007.

Also invited to the ceremony were Rylstone WI Calendar Girls Angela Baker, Tricia Stewart, Ros Fawcett, Beryl Bamforth, Christine Clancey and Lynda Logan, who raised nearly £2 million for Leukaemia Research “It is a real honour to be invited to the Women of the Year lunch,” said Angela.

It was the death of her husband, John, which inspired her and her friends to publish a naked calendar for the millennium.

“It’s amazing to think that in 10 years we have raised £2 million for Leukaemia Research and we have made a fantastic new calendar for 2010. John would have been so proud,” she said.

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