A NORTH Somerset woman has been crowned with the title 'Influencer of the Year' in the Sense Awards 2023.

The awards, which have been going on for 20 years, were created to celebrate people with complex disabilities and those who support them. 35 shortlisted entries were acknowledged in the virtual awards ceremony, which was held today (Thursday, November 23).

Jeffie Smith, 32, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. Jeffie, who uses a wheelchair, goes about her day with chronic pain and fatigue, mobility issues, and experiences daily joint dislocations. 

Jeffie shares her experiences on her social media channels, like Twitch and Instagram. In doing so, she raises awareness around sensitive topics such as disability hate crime, discrimination, and ableism.

Recently, Jeffie shared her experiences of how coming out as queer and dating another wheelchair user has shown her the ways homophobia and ableism can go hand in hand.

Disabled influencers Fats Timbo and Tess Daly were also shortlisted for the Influencer of the Year Award.  

 Jeffie said:  "Thank you so much to everybody at Sense – I’m really grateful and I would never have imagined that my platform would be recognised in this way.

"I started using social media to talk about my experiences of disability as a way to hopefully connect with people and I feel really lucky to have the online community that I do.

"It was amazing to be nominated alongside other incredible creators and wonderful past winners, let alone to have won. I can’t wait to show everyone my trophy at every opportunity!"   

Richard Kramer, chief executive of Sense, said: “Celebrating the achievements of children and adults with complex disabilities at our annual awards ceremony is always one of the highlights of my year.

"Jeffie is a thoroughly deserving winner – she has done an amazing job of raising awareness of the challenges disabled people face, and it’s great to see this recognised.” 

The winners were chosen by a panel of external judges and the ceremony was hosted by disabled broadcaster and advocate Samantha Renke.

There were 13 different categories in the awards, including Celebrity of the Year and Campaigner of the Year.