In her acceptance speech Amanda said:

"... we have really been able to change the community in Tirumangalam through our work, not just in owning a wonderful factory which has working conditions which are better than any other in the area ... we have a whole team of people who can run an export company - isn't that better than just giving a handout ?

.... so many foreign funding projects, so many charitable things ... I'm not saying they're all wrong but they're not all right in the sense that money comes in and when it's taken away those people are left almost without a crutch and they fail again and have to start again and more money is needed ... that's not the way to go.

Business presents the answer, I believe, to so many of the world's problems and it's time people stood up and took what we do seriously. I hope that for anyone who has seen me today it will give them the courage to take the first step, however small, to put that first idea into practice ...there are so many people who say " I would love to do that but ... my husband won't let me .... or ... it's the children". I have one here in my tummy, another back in India who Teddy Exports is named after, and another in the audience, asleep. They are the inspiration ... the world doesn't belong to us, the future belongs to them. Not just my children and your children but to all our children .. and I want a better place for all the children of the world, not just a tiny minority."

If you want the opportunity to ask Amanda about her work and Teddy Exports, go to the talkboard.