BOLTON businesswoman Tyra Khan picked up the Entrepreneur Award at this year’s Fusion Awards.

The awards ceremony took place at King George’s Hall, Blackburn, and the event helps to highlight the work of volunteers, charity workers and entrepreneurs throughout the region.

Tyra was working as a lawyer for a global law firm but her heart was set on establishing a business that could also provide a much-needed service for families in her home town of Bolton.

So she set up Ladybridge Pre-School Nursery, which caters for children from all backgrounds. She studied for a year at Edge Hill University, taking annual leave from her job to attend lectures and had to complete assignments between midnight and 5am when her own son was asleep, only to wake up at 6:45am to get ready for her next job.

Tyra, who thanked her mother for inspiring her, said: “I feel very privileged to have won this prestigious award. My team and I are very passionate about teaching children and making a real difference to their future development, and it's fantastic to have these efforts rewarded.

“I have worked particularly hard over the past year to achieve Early Years Teacher Status in order to further my own knowledge in the education sector and to enrich the experiences of the children that attend Ladybridge Pre-School.

“Winning this award has motivated me to find additional innovative ways to keep improving my business and to teach the next generation that they can achieve anything that they put their minds to.”

Among the finalists in the Community Cohesion Award category were the Bolton Interfaith Council and the The OppO Foundation.

Ilm to Aml: Knowledge to Action, run by Bolton based First Ethical, which has looked to encourage mosques and madrassas to take a more active part in the wider community, was also featured in the list.

The As-Suffa Outreach Bolton volunteers were the Bolton representatives in the Community Group of the Year category.