Dany Cotton of the London Fire Brigade receives the Women of the Year Award

The "Prudential Women of the Year Leadership Award" was awarded to the Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, Dany Cotton, in recognition of her incredible bravery and skill within hugely challenging circumstances, especially in recent times.

Her positivity and openness when she talked about her own mental health challenges were very aspirational and has resulted in many more men and women feeling able to talk about their own issues.

The award was presented by Julie Etchingham, presenter and reporter for ITV News.

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Dany Cotton is a strong supporter of the CTIF Commission for Women in Fire & Rescue, and has participated in several meetings, one very recently, where she gave a presentation which we are hoping to report more on soon. 

"Dany has been supporting us all the way and has been a guest or guest speaker in our meetings", says Mira Leinonen, Chair of the CTIF Commission for Women in Fire Services to CTIF News.

Other honours and awards:

(From Wikipedia)

In 2002, Cotton was named Outstanding Public Servant of the year. In the 2004 New Year Honours, Cotton became the first woman to be awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal, given "for distinguished service." 

On 30 October 2008, she was awarded the Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

In 2010, she was named by The Independent as one of "100 women who changed the world". In 2014, she won the Public Service Category of the First Women Awards.

According to WFS.org, she also received the Inspiring Leader Award sponsored by Dräger in 2023.

Background:

Dany Cotton joined London Fire Brigade in 1988, and her first placement was at Wimbledon Fire Station. Aged 19, she had been a full firefighter for just three months when she attended the Clapham Junction rail crash. 

In 2007, she was assigned the post of Area Commander, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the British Fire Service, and in 2012 was made Assistant Chief Officer.

In September 2016, Cotton was appointed interim Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade following the retirement of Ron Dobson.

On 14 June 2017, Cotton was called out in the middle of the night[14] to take charge of the London Fire Brigade's response to the massive Grenfell Tower fire, which she described as "an unprecedented incident." She appeared at several media briefings to give updates on casualty figures, challenges faced and firefighters' progress.