A SALTCOATS woman is celebrating after being nominated for ta op award for her work with blind and partially-sighted people.

Norma Baillie, pictured, was at the Federation of Small Business Awards (Scotland) finals, which took place in Edinburgh on Tuesday, January 23.

Over 120 guests were present at the prestigious ceremony at the Playfair Library, Old College Edinburgh venue, where the winners of the 12 categories were announced.

Norma, who has been vision impaired since the age of nine, was nominated by one of her employees in the Triumph over Adversity category and was thrilled to reach the Scottish finals.

She is the founder and Operations Manager of PrioritEyes Ltd, a company based in North Ayrshire since 2011.

Norma’s team of specialist staff fill gaps in Local Authority services in Scotland and England, delivering front-line training to enable people who are blind and partially-sighted to increase their confidence, safety and independence.

After the Awards Ceremony, Norma said: “I am really proud to have come this far, both in the FSB Awards and in running a successful business in this difficult economic climate.

“It hasn’t been easy, and a lot of the barriers I had to overcome to get where I am are still there, faced by other people living with sight loss.

“Having a degenerative eye condition myself, I strongly believe that anyone loosing their sight should receive services of the highest quality so they can live life without limits”