The 2008 Star Woman of the Year will be crowned next week. In the build-up to the presentation ceremony we’ll be profiling one of our eight finalists each day. Today we meet inspirational Shrewsbury teenager SARAH THOMAS.

Sarah Thomas is a remarkable young woman. At the tender age of 14, she already has four top accolades to her name. 

“Saz”, as she’s better known, won the British Red Cross Humanitarian Award, their Young Carer of the Year award and the  British Red Cross Society Young Award last year. This year she has added the High Sheriff’s Young Citizen of the Year Award.

At the age of just 10, she became the country’s youngest member of a multiple sclerosis branch when she officially joined the Shrewsbury and district group – but by then, she had already been attending monthly get togethers for several years, escorting her mother Carole who’s been an MS sufferer since 1981.

Carol remembers: “She used to have to come with me to meetings when she was small and somebody said to her ‘you might as well join, you’ve always got plenty to say’. So she did.” Now, Saz is a committee member who presents a young carer report each month, and is always brimming with ideas.

In between lessons at Shrewsbury’s Priory School, she provides vital support and care for her mother in between school hours, responsible for her regular injections.

“She’s a star,” said one admirer who recommended her for this year’s prize. “She’s so caring, always looking out to help anyone with anything.”

The teenager has helped the group to raise over £30,000 in the past few years, and can often be seen rattling tins in the Darwin Centre, helping man the Christmas card shop at St Mary’s Church  and helping out with refreshments at various events.

“She’s got a wise head on her young shoulders,” said a spokesman for the Shrewsbury MS group. “She’s got a brain and knows how to use it.”