Women of the year...

It’s going to be a tough call for the judging panel, which will include Evening Times editor Tony Carlin and Susan Nicol, general manager of awards sponsor St. Enoch Centre, to decide who will win top prize in each section.

The winners will be announced at a glamorous dinner in the majestic surroundings of Glasgow City Chambers on Thursday, February 4.

The Scotswoman Of The Year Finalists (in alphabetical order) are:

EILEEN GRANGER, 39, Prestwick

When her baby son, Ross, was diagnosed with bi-lateral Wilms’ tumour, a rare form of cancer of both kidneys, it seemed like the end of the world for Eileen and her husband, Shaun. But once Ross started to recover-- he is now six and survives on half a kidney, although he may need a transplant in the future -- Eileen was determined to give her all for the charity which had helped the family in their hour of need.

Over the years, she has raised over £200,000 for CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children, raising £10,000 alone from sales of Ross, A Little Miracle, the moving story of an ordeal faced by so many parents.

Any spare time she has from her day job as a child-minder and looking after Ross and his nine-year-old sister Chloe-Anne, is used to help out at the Prestwick CLIC Sargent holiday home for children with cancer and their families.

KERRY-ANN HINDLEY, 31, East Kilbride

Kerry-Ann, who recently won the national Lesley Pearse Woman of Courage Award, has an extraordinary story to tell. She had a troubled childhood and just seven years ago, you might have written her off as just another homeless person, down and out with no way back. That would have been a huge mistake.

For this remarkable young woman grabbed with both hands the help she was offered along the way, has transformed her life and is now dedicated to helping other young people.

She has done volunteering work abroad and after taking an HNC course in social care, she landed a job as a youth worker with South Lanarkshire Council at the college, acting as a mentor and guide to pupils.

She is also commander of 2 Troop Scots Dragoon Guards Detachment of the Glasgow & Lanarkshire Battalion ACF.

LYNN MURRAY, 44, Drymen

Lynn has twice fought cancer. When she was just 15, she lost a leg to bone cancer and five years ago, she had a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer. But Lynn has never given in to self-pity -- the smiling face of the Beatson Pebble Appeal is a woman who always looks on the bright side.

Lynn , now 44, was so grateful for the care and attention she received right through her diagnosis, treatment and surgery, that she was determined to give something back.

Married with two teen­agers, she combines her job as an office manager with running the charity, Think Pink Scotland, which she set up with some friends to raise funds for breast cancer research in Scotland.

So far, through a variety of events -- including the launch of a best-selling cookbook Fantastic Recipes for a Fantastic Cause -- the charity has raised £310,000, some of which has bought equipment for the Pathology Department at the Western Infirmary while the rest is going towards Think Pink’s £250,000 goal to help fund a laboratory at the new state-of-the-art Beatson Translational Research Centre in Glasgow.

DR MARGO WHITEFORD, 50, Strathblane

Margo was born with spina bifida, a condition which leaves most of those affected paralysed from the waist down.

But it has never held her back. Against the odds, she was determined to achieve her ambition to become a doctor and is now a consultant in genetics at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill.

Her parents helped found the Scottish Spina Bifida Association, which Margo now chairs, and she has spent most of her life working for it, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds and helping run the Buy a Brick appeal to fund the association’s new centre at Cumbernauld.

Margo inspired celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to become honorary patron and on her half-century last year took part for the first time alongside him in the gruelling London Marathon.

She has also taken part in the Great Northern Run, the Ladies 10K and the Great Scottish Run.

Scots Sportswoman of the Year

EILEEN ADAMS, 56, Glasgow

For a quarter of a century now, Eileen has coached elite Scottish swimmers to success.

Internationally respected and completely dedicated to the job, she had been head coach in Aberdeen since 1993, but last year, Glasgow enticed her home as performance coach for the City of Glasgow Swim Team.

She had already proved her worth after being seconded to Glasgow for a year -- during that year, the city moved from tenth to third in Scotland.

With the Commonwealth Games on the horizon and the Olympic Games in London in 2012, the city needs the best, and Eileen is recognised as such.

Eileen, who grew up in Mearnskirk, has travelled all over the world to provide her swimmers with the best possible training

CATRIONA MATTHEW, 40, North Berwick

Last year -- the year she turned 40 -- was quite a landmark one for Catriona, one of the world’s leading golfers. Just 11 weeks after she gave birth to her second daughter, she won the prestigious Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham, one of the world’s four Majors.

She also won the HSBC LPGA Brazil Cup this year.

Catriona is respected for her ability to juggle motherhood with touring worldwide and is regarded as unflappable and focused.

One of the leading golfers on the world stage for over a decade, Catriona has played and won for Europe in the Solheim Cup, and gained top 10 places in all four of the women’s Majors, including a tie for 2nd in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007.

CATRIONA MORRISON, 33, Broxburn

Glasgow-born Catriona has had a great year.

In 2009 she recorded the fastest-ever debut ironman distance triathlon time and also the sixth-fastest time in history.

Her main achievements in recent years have been winning the 2006, 2007 and 2008 World Duathlon Championships and the 2007 and 2009 European Duathlon Championships.

She is presently concentrating on the ironman distance triathlon (3.9k swim; 180km bike; marathon run) and the world duathlon championships, which will be held in Edinburgh in September this year.

She is also a regular visitor at schools in West Lothian, where she is now based, through the Winning Scotland Foundation’s Champions in Schools project to promote and inspire pupils through sport to achieve their potential.

Scots Businesswoman of the Year

CLARE THOMMEN, 31, and FIONA McLEAN, 34, of Boudiche, Glasgow and Edinburgh

Clare and Fiona are girls with a mission -- to help Scots women feel glamorous but also comfy in their underpinnings.

Together, they run Boudiche, the luxury lingerie company. Despite having no experience in fashion, the trained accountants opened their first shop in Edinburgh four-and-a-half years ago. It was so successful that 18 months ago, they opened the Glasgow branch in Ingram Street. Boudiche also has an online shop which ships designer lingerie orders internationally.

Boudiche, which mixes international designer brands with Scottish designers, has already won several awards and this year beat retailers such as Harrods and Debenhams to win the Lingerie Retailer of the Year award at the Drapers Awards.

With last year’s turnover up on the previous year’s during a dificult trading period, the women certainly have cause to celebrate.

ELIZABETH RODDICK, 59, Netherlee

The New Life Pharmacy is no ordinary pharmacy and Elizabeth is no ordinary pharmacist.

Elizabeth tripled the size of her premises in Netherlee last summer, adding several new services and business has risen by 70 per cent since then.

She also runs a thriving website and online shop and her self-help book, Look Better, Live Better, is a popular seller.

Elizabeth believes in combining conventional medicine with alternative remedies and therapies, healthy living and exercise.

She is also resident pharmacist on Insight Radio and a DJ at the Southern General Hospital radio Southern Sound. She has had her own health show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

KAREN CAMPBELL, 33, Newton Mearns

Karen, the youngest female CEO in Scotland, has reached the top at breakneck speed and combines a demanding career with her role as mum to four-year-old Ross.

She is the dynamic chief executive of the £330 million Maxim development, the UK’s largest speculatively-built office park, based at Euro­central on the M8 which aims to create more than 8000 jobs and put Scotland on the map.

After graduating in land economics, Karen became a partner with Montagu Evans at just 23 and from then on, there has been no stopping her.

She has extensive experience working on schemes throughout Scotland including Skypark, Central Quay and the Nova Technology Park, but admits she had to work harder and be smarter to demonstrate that women can be as good in business as the men.