Val Armstrong named Cumbria Woman of the Year 2011
BBC Radio Cumbria presenter Val Armstrong has been named Cumbria Woman of the Year.
Having been diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time, the 47-year-old decided to make her fight with the illness public, to help other women.
The organising committee said she had used her "honesty and humour" to reassure and encourage other women, as well as being a voice for the county.
The annual event has been held for 22 years.
Miss Armstrong said: "I am still in shock. There are almost 100 women in the room behind me and every single one of them has a story to tell. They are amazing women.
"For me to be chosen among them, to actually be included to be with them in the first place I was shocked, but to walk away with this is just fantastic."
Miss Armstrong received her award at a ceremony in Grasmere.
Chairwoman of the organising committee Tess Hart said: "We choose one lady to represent all those ladies, and for her stoicism, for the voice she has and the friend she is to people who have never even met her, she has been a shining example to all Cumbrian women."
Previous winners of the title have included businesswoman Annette Gibbons, teacher Annie Mawson and voluntary worker Kerry Maxwell.
Winners of the Cumbria Woman of the Year title are nominated by the public before being reviewed by the 20 volunteers who make up the organising committee.