Eighty-three-year-old Glynis Collins was a finalist in last year's Attitude awards in the 'Making a difference' category. For the past 30 years, the great-grandmother has been the backbone of Special Olympics in Whangarei. Her mornings start at 5am when she's off to the pools with her Special olympian son Darcy, and Special Olympics business means she's seldom in bed before 10pm. She devotes her time to fund-raising, coaching, planning trips and administering the finances for the organisation. Last year Glynis coached her ten pin bowling ten to win gold at the national Special Olympics in Dunedin.