Penny Melville-Brown
Penny Melville-Brown is a British Royal Navy veteran, blind baker and winner of the Holman Prize. She served for 22 years in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and Royal Navy, reaching the rank of commander. She was the first woman to hold the position of naval barrister. She was medically discharged from the Royal Navy in 1999 after her eyesight deteriorated[1] and she created Disability Dynamics to help other people with disabilities to start a business. In 2009, she was awarded an OBE for her service to the disabled.[2] In 2017, she was one of the three winners of the 2017 Holman prize for Blind Ambition, an international award for blind people with ambition. In 2018 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by London Middlesex University. She has an online baking project called Baking Blind where she shows people how she cooks and encourages others to test their limits even if they have disabilities.[3]
References
- Percival, Richard. "Blind veteran Penny Melville-Brown could be set to realise cooking dream after reaching finals". Daily Echo. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- "Blind veteran reaches finals of the prestigious Holman Prize". Blind Veterans. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- "Blind Former Navy Commander Wins Award". Forces Network. Retrieved 6 February 2018.