SOLDIERING ON AWARDS

It goes without saying that Natasha is a remarkable person doing amazing things within the community, but like most Soldiering On Awards finalists and winners she doesn't consider herself to be extraordinary:

"To find out I had been nominated was extremely humbling and I was so touched that someone had gone out of their way to put me forward. To then find out I was a finalist was incredible. None of the work I do is for recognition, but it was a brilliant night out! Winning was amazing - I was in a category with some truly inspirational people that absolutely deserved to win.

"When I saw my face crop up on the screen I was completely shocked! But I didn’t win, the network won, every family that has ever felt they have had to sacrifice something to breastfeed, or stop feeding to return to work, won this award. Without them and their struggles the DBN wouldn’t exist. They are the reason we work so hard to break barriers and change culture."

Organisations and individuals nominated for the Soldiering On Awards typically see an increase in exposure of their work, and this has certainly been the case with Natasha: more people can access support, and everything we do is about education which means we can educate organisations outside of the Armed Forces community too. Not only that, but the amazing thing about SOA is that the relationship doesn’t end with an award, its an ongoing partnership and support network too."

Unsurprisingly, Natasha hasn't been resting on her laurels since the Soldiering On Awards finale on 27th October - her days have been filled with frontline shifts for the Ambulance Service and opening yet more breastfeeding rooms through the Network. She also has big plans for the future:

"I’d love to see a world where the Defence Breastfeeding Network doesn’t exist, because it’s not needed and breastfeeding is normalised and supported But until then, we open more rooms, we educate as many people as possible and we advocate for those that need it.

'We show people that choosing to breastfeed is not a barrier and that the Armed Forces will support parents returning to work. I’m hoping to host our first conference in the next few years and want to implement some more uniformbased changes to make it easier for Servicewomen to express and feed in."

'Being able to share things on social media and talk about the Awards has gained a lot of interest for the network, which means

Nominations for the 2023 Soldiering On Awards are open now - learn more here.