She’s Ennispiration: Sheffield’s own is world’s most inspiring person

Sheffield is home to some of the most inspirational people in the world, according to a recent survey.

University of Sheffield alumnus Jess Ennis beat the likes of Barak Obama, Nelson Mandela and Ghandi to earn the top place as most inspirational person in a survey conducted by a Starbucks youth group.

Girls want to be her…

Ex Sheffield student Eddie Izzard also made it into the top 15.

Eddie Izzard began to toy with comedy when he enrolled at the University of Sheffield,  but dropped out to become to the world famous comedian and inspirational person he is today.

The Inspiration Index is published to coincide with the launch of Starbucks Youth Action which supports young people carrying out projects that benefit their community.

More than 1000 16-24 year-olds were asked who their inspiration was based on qualities and characteristics such as integrity, effort, judgement and having a positive impact on society.

The index features over 100 public figures from politics, business, sports and entertainment.  Among the top 25 role models, more than a third (37%) are women. Ellen DeGeneres, Dame Judi Dench, JK Rowling, and Oprah all rank high.

Looking Inspirational: Who needs a degree?

The poll shows the characteristics most valued in inspirational people are getting results, so it’s no surprise that olympic gold medalist Jess tops the charts.

Ennis ranked in the top 5 of “most genuine” and “makes the best decisions” of nearly 150 inspirational people, while winning the top place for “working the hardest to get where they are”.

Jess beat the likes of Stephen Fry, Dame Judi Dench and Martin Luther King on account of her hard-working attitude and sparkling personality.

Ennis is so inspirational they stuck her on a billboard outside John Lewis

Ennis continues to inspire students in Sheffield. Emily, a 2nd year geography student at Sheffield Hallam, is a keen athlete and idolises the Sheffield-born olympian. “I train in cross-country alongside my degree and it’s so inspiring to see genuine-seeming athletes succeeding, especially in something like this when there’s so many historical figures and actors.

“It’s really nice that genuine athletes are inspiring people as much as politicians because it means people understand just how much hard work is involved.”

On the other hand, Law student Jamie at the University of Sheffield finds it depressing that athletes and comedians got into the top ranks.

“I don’t care if they lived in Sheffield or they went to Sheffield or whatever. They haven’t made any big changes to society. Jess hasn’t inspired me to go for a jog and Eddie Izzard has only inspired me to drop out of university.”

Sheffield loves Jess. They gave her her own postbox.

Only 10% of people nominated for the survey were under the age of 30.

At the bottom of the scale were Bruce Forsyth, Graham Norton, Eminem, Peter Kay and Ellie Goulding.

If we’ve learnt anything from this survey, it’s that running fast and dropping out of uni are they keys to success.