Meet the judges for the 2024 Sense Awards
It’s time for the annual Sense Awards, where we celebrate the achievements of people with complex disabilities and their families and carers.
On this page, you can find out all about our fantastic judges. They’ll be deciding who wins in categories like Person of the Year, Young Person of the Year and Young Sibling of the Year.
The judges
Lisette Auton
Lisette Auton is an author, playwright, activist and performer. Lisette, who is disabled and neurodivergent, has recently published her third children’s book to feature a young, disabled protagonist – she hopes her books inspire young people to follow their dreams.
Shelby Lynch
Shelby Lynch is a social media influencer and model, who won Influencer of the Year at the 2021 Sense Awards. Shelby has spinal muscular atrophy type 2, and uses an electric wheelchair while being ventilated 24/7. Shelby has hundreds of thousands of followers across her social media channels, where her goal is to make fashion and beauty more accessible for disabled people, and to encourage the fashion world to be more inclusive.
Paige Barnes
Paige Barnes is Sense’s reigning ‘Person of the Year’, having won the award last year for her advocacy and fundraising. Paige has Usher syndrome and has shared her experiences of being deafblind in the news, visited parliament to speak to MPs, and run the London Marathon to fundraise for Sense’s work despite the challenges of training to run with limited vision. Paige says her goal in life is to be proud of her identity and help others feel proud of theirs too.
Matilda Feyisayo Ibini
Matilda Feyisayo Ibini is a multi-award-winning bionic playwright and filmmaker of Nigerian heritage from London. Matilda was selected as a Star of Tomorrow by Screen Daily, a screenplay they co-wrote was named as part of The Brit List 2020 and they were an Arts Foundation Futures Award 2021 Finalist.
Matilda’s theatre credits include: Muscovado, Little Miss Burden and Olivier Award winning Sleepova. Screen credits include: BAFTA TV-Nominated CripTales and MO <3 KYRA, a short film produced by Film4 and 104 Films debuted at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival. They also co-wrote an episode on Amazon Prime’s series Wilderness (2023).
Crip Ladywood
Crip Ladywood rolled onto the Birmingham drag scene in late 2021 and has been going from strength to strength since, winning of Europe’s biggest Drag King contest, ManUp! 2024. He’s one of the UK’s only wheelchair-using drag artists. Crip wants to spread joy, love, and lots of laughs. Self-styled as “Birmingham’s fruitiest vegetable”, he challenges stereotypes and idiosyncrasies through entertainment.
When not in drag, Crip’s alter ego Emma (they/them), has over a decade of experience in disabled peoples’ activism and campaigning. They are a consummate public speaker and educator. Emma is currently the Access Lead of Birmingham Pride, a director of Queer Stage Revolution, and a proud Equity member. As a genderqueer, bisexual, fat, neurodivergent wheelchair user they bring their unique perspective to the drag world, which touches on what it is to be queer, to be proud of one’s existence, to struggle to access community and the importance of finding and treasuring the moments of lightness and joy.
Joe Kenny
Joe Kenny is a singer, musician and songwriter, who has more than 25 years’ experience performing live music in his home of Northern Ireland and beyond. Joe, who has been blind since the age of five, has racked up thousands of streams on his original songs, including singles ‘Chasing A Dream’ and ‘Label Me’ from his debut EP Perfect Fool released in 2021. A keen advocate for disability inclusion and equality, Joe has now worked for over 10 years in charity communications and public relations.
Jaina Mistry
Jaina Mistry is England’s first blind female fitness instructor. With her guide dog by her side, Jaina has appeared on tv, won multiple fitness awards, and has since become a nutrition and weight management consultant and professional speaker. With her lived experience of overcoming adversity, Jaina is passionate about improving the accessibility and inclusion needs of “differently abled” people. Jaina recently starred alongside Martin Clunes in an ITV documentary about the life changing work of guide dogs, A Dog Called Laura (still available on ITVX catch up).
Sense Awards 2025 shortlist
