Hazel Cottrell is one of those remarkable people who seems to fit twice as much into her days as anyone else. Not only is she incredibly smart and proactive how she runs her own business, but she does more for other people than most people do in a full time job.

I lose track of how many community projects she's involved in. Many of which she sets up herself.

For example, Vision Shift is a project where each year she brings together local business owners to talk to the residents of Peterborough prison. It really inspires the residents and also inspires the businesses to do more for their community.

The feedback from this was excellent:

" Thank you for inviting me Hazel; this was one of the most rewarding days work over my 11 years of employment in the NHS."

Vivien at NHS, Cambridgeshire

"Really good, worthwhile event - well done for coming up with this idea Hazel; I'm sure as many businesses as residents benefitted from it. Looking forward to next Friday now. Have a great weekend everyone!"

Rachel at Forbes Training

“Congratulations to you, Hazel, for putting in the time and taking the initiative. This is a really worthwhile cause and I hope we all made something of a difference yesterday."

Mike at Positive Networking

Hazel is also heavily involved in the Light Project, where volunteers bring food for the homeless and take the time to talk with them and lend support.

She's also held mock interviews for students at Ken Stimpson School and Linchfield School to help them enhance their career opportunities.

Linchfield School said "The careers awareness day was thoroughly enjoyed by both children and staff and the children were inspired by the people they got to talk to and came away with what it is like to be in the work place and ideas for future careers. We can’t wait to hold the event again next year and hope it becomes an annual event in our school calendar."

As if all that wasn't enough (and I've probably overlooked a lot!) she's just been appointed the chairperson for Parnwell residents association. Hazel wants to create a closer community in Parnwell and to continue organising Careers Awareness Days at schools.

On top of all that Hazel runs her own business 'Creative Content Company' where she manages the social media, SEO and copywriting for local businesses.

Although Hazel has won awards for her work in the community there's one sure-fire way to know why I've chosen Hazel as my very first 'Peterborough business hero'. Want to know what it is? Well, what do we all do when we want to find out about someone? We check their Facebook profile! One look at Hazel's reveals the dizzying array of activities she gets involved in. Every day she's helping someone in some way.

She's truly an inspiration. The only downside is she makes me feel guilty for not being as good as her...!!