BEVERLEY DAVIES’ triumph in the Employee of the Year category showed what the Lancashire Telegraph Business Awards are all about.

With tears of joy rolling down her face Beverley, who has been profoundly deaf since the age of two, was overcome with emotion as she received her award on stage at Ewood Park.

Beverley’s victory was met with wild celebrations by her colleagues and friends at the School of Sign Language and it highlighted the power the awards have to bring joy and recognition to East Lancashire’s unsung heroes.

Speaking soon afterwards and flanked by daughter Natalie Davies, 19, and boss Mary Mackenzie – who were both also in tears – she told of her joy at being named Employee of the Year.

Speaking in sign language which was interpreted by Mary, Beverley said: “I’m gobsmacked. I have never achieved something like this.

“I have worked so hard to get to this point.

“What has happened tonight is just unbelievable and shows what can be achieved through the power of hard work.

“This win shows that deaf people can be the same as hearing people and that we can achieve the same goals in the end.”

As the three women hugged each other in joy Mary, who won the same award last year, said she was more delighted with Beverley’s award than her own.

Fighting back tears, she said: “This means more to me than anything.

“Beverley goes out and teaches sign language classes and she is the best tutor any one could ask for.

“She’s just great and what she has achieved is testament to how much she has grown as a person since she started with us just over two years ago.

“We just can’t believe what has happened tonight.”

Beverley said years of struggling to find a job had left her with low levels of self esteem and confidence that were all too often associated with deafness.

But her work – in which she goes out teaching sign language – has changed all that and she has gone on to achieve something she never thought she would.

And it was this rejuvenation and hard work that hit home with the judging panel who chose Beverley as the out-right winner in a very strong category.

Beverley, who affectionately refers to Mary as ‘Big Sis’, added: “I became deaf when I was two and thought I could do nothing, but tonight I’ve shown that anything is possible through hard work.”