IN THE vast surroundings of the city's velodrome, Cara Henderson is laughing and joking with a group of schoolchildren, who are eager to meet her.

The lively St Blane's Primary pupils have won a gold award from Nil by Mouth, in recognition of their outstanding work challenging sectarianism.

Cara, who founded Nil by Mouth 15 years ago, is there to present them with their trophy and watch them enjoy a special session on the track as part of their prize.

"It's great to see such positive work being done in schools, by children and young people," she says. "Children are full of hope, after all. They are the future...."

Hope is at the heart of what Nil by Mouth does - hope that sectarianism, a nasty, vicious blight on Scottish society, will be overcome; hope that attitudes will change; hope that religious and cultural diversity can finally be respected and celebrated by all.

It was Cara's vision, and the work she has done in driving the charity's initiatives, which saw her named Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year 2014.

The 35-year-old, who grew up in Helensburgh and then Mugdock, accepted the title to rapturous applause at the City Chambers last week.

In a moving acceptance speech, she paid tribute to her friend Mark Scott, the teenager killed in a sectarian attack on a Glasgow street 20 years ago, and she spoke from the heart about the kind of Scotland she wanted to live in.

"Mark had a horrible death and it haunted me for many years, but he also had a great life, because he lived it well," she said.

"Where others saw threat and difference, Mark saw opportunity and interest. Where others, including myself, were insecure and defensive, Mark was open and expansive."

She added: "The simple truth is being prejudiced limits your life. It cuts you off and makes your world smaller and less colourful. Moving beyond our own prejudices is something we all should try to do ...the happier we feel, the more we will value ourselves and the more we value ourselves, the more we can and will value each other.

"And that's the sort of world I want to live in."

Back in the velodrome, one of the St Blane's pupils is explaining why she is glad Cara won.

"Thanks to her, we've got Nil by Mouth and it's made my school better," says 10-year-old Erin Regan. "People talk to each other more and there are not so many arguments. I think Cara is brilliant."

It all began 20 years ago, just half a mile from where Cara and her new young friends are standing today.

On the way home from a football match, wearing the colours of the team he supported, teenager Mark Scott was murdered on the street, in an unprovoked attack by a stranger. Mark never saw his killer.

Mark's friend Cara was devastated and struggled to make sense of this pointless, brutal death.

Realising that the kind of religious and social hatred and prejudice which led to Mark's death was deeply ingrained in Scottish society, she decided to take a stand.

Nil by Mouth - Cara and her mum Jennifer came up with the name, to represent the campaign's focus on attitudes and language - was set up in 2000. It remains the only charity dedicated to fighting sectarianism in Scotland.

"At that time, very few people were speaking about sectarianism and bigotry, and I didn't understand why it wasn't more of an issue, why people weren't saying, well hang on, it's like racism, why is it acceptable to make these jokes?" Cara explains.

For 15 years, the charity - which is made up almost entirely of volunteers - has campaigned and lobbied to challenge prejudice and change attitudes. Its education initiatives include an anti-sectarianism accreditation scheme for schools, a similar workplace initiative and workshops and training sessions.

In the velodrome, Cara is composed and chatty but admits to feeling a little nervous about being in front of newspaper photographers again.

For years, she was the 'go-to' person whenever anyone wanted to talk about sectarianism, quoted regularly in newspapers and on television and radio, all the while dealing with her own grief.

"It felt like someone else's life," she says, slowly.

"I was naive and passionate, which probably made it easier for me to keep going. It's only as I got older that I thought - oh, god....this is difficult."

She pauses. "There were taunts, but I think it would have been worse if I had been a man, or older," she adds. "I was just a young girl."

And in recent years, while remaining the driving force behind Nil by Mouth, Cara has had other, personal battles to fight.

Working in London as a criminal barrister, and then Home Office legal adviser, she was on her way to meet a friend for dinner when she was caught up in an explosion caused by a gas leak and an electrical fault in an underground cable.

She suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and struggled to come to terms with what had happened to her.

Happily, after a tough couple of years, she has recovered, and is now concentrating on a new career as a writer.

Dave Scott, campaign manager for Nil by Mouth, says Cara is an inspiration to everyone who meets her.

"Cara was the little whisper of hope among the noise and the anger and the aggression, asking us - have things always been this way? Can things not be a bit better?" he says.

"Cara helped Scotland to find her voice on this huge issue - she took sectarianism from the back pages to the front pages, from the margins to the mainstream.

"And when people shouted at her and abused her, she kept going, with the kind of strength, wisdom and honesty that everyone who meets her is impressed by."

As she recovers from the excitement of winning SWOTY, Cara is already looking forward to the year ahead. It's Nil by Mouth's 15th anniversary, and 20 years since Mark died, and the charity is planning to commemorate both.

"Nil by Mouth has made a difference - sectarianism isn't what it was in Scotland, it's more out in the open," she says.

"Proud is a strange word to use, because of how this all started. But yes, I am proud of what Nil by Mouth and all the people who work so hard for the charity, have achieved.

"It's changed things - in ways I certainly hoped, but maybe didn't believe, it ever could. I feel very proud of that."