Author Topic: Exclusive: Full list of inspirational Pride of Britain winners who are the ....  (Read 903 times)

Cocopops

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 219
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/inspirational-pride-britain-winners-including-25334230?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_campaign=12at12_newsletter2&utm_medium=email&pure360.trackingid=dc332faa-28fb-48e4-8537-38b9191e9675

Exclusive: Full list of inspirational Pride of Britain winners who are the best among us

We reveal some of this year’s inspirational winners of the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards the show is held in partnership with TSB

By Natasha Wynarczyk

00:01, 30 Oct 2021Updated20:57, 4 Nov 2021

The most star-studded night is back as the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards hits our screens for the first time since 2019.  More than 150 famous faces including Prince Charles, Ant and Dec, Holly Willoughby, Ed Sheeran, Sharon Stone and Simon Cowell came together to celebrate our unsung heroes.  And for the first time in Pride of Britain’s 22-year history, host Carol Vorderman was joined onstage by a co-host, Ashley Banjo.  Carol said: “The night will be a proper celebration.”

Here, we reveal some of this year’s inspirational winners.

Lifetime Achievement – Rosemary Cox, 82, Wolverhampton

Successfully campaigned to set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping to save thousands of lives.  After their 24-year-old son Peter died in 1989 following a brain tumour, Rosemary and John Cox saw the need for a register for people who wish to donate their organs.  Peter had asked before his death for his organs to be used to help others and his sacrifice saved or transformed the lives of 17 people.  But his parents found that although patients in need of a transplant were listed on a central NHS computer, there was no equivalent register for potential donors.  Over the next five years, the couple from Wolverhampton and their daughter Christine launched their campaign, travelling the country fundraising, lobbying politicians and creating awareness for their cause.  Their efforts culminated at the 1993 Conservative Party Conference when Christine made an impassioned plea from the platform for a register of donors' wishes.  Health Secretary Virginia Bottomley pledged there and then to set up an NHS Organ Donor Register, which launched on 6th October 1994.  Today the number of people who have registered their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register has reached over 26 million or 42% of the UK population.  Meanwhile, since the register was established on the 6th October 1994, over 27,000 people have donated their organs after their death and over 76,000 deceased donor transplants have taken place.  Rosemary is now 82. Her husband John passed away in 2007, but their son’s legacy lives on and she continues to campaign to promote the benefits of organ transplantation.  When the NHS marked the register’s 25th anniversary in 2019, it was revealed it had saved or transformed 20,000 lives. And over the last 12 months, NHS Blood and Transplant facilitated nearly 3,400 transplants.

Special Recognition – Rob Allen, 34, Northampton

Founded Sands United, an inspirational network of football teams where men who have lost babies and young children can come together to grieve.  Rob and his wife Charlotte’s third child Niamh was stillborn, days before her due date in 2017. They were helped through their loss by the stillbirth charity Sands, but at one meeting, Rob counted 24 women and three men.  Realising that grieving dads were finding it difficult to reach out for help, he organised a charity football match to raise funds for Sands, but also giving men an opportunity to come together and talk about their loss.  The one-off game, featuring bereaved fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers, raised £6,000, but the emotional benefit for the players was even more significant.  And so, Sands United was born, and entered a local league in Northampton. But Rob’s impact has spread far wider.  Inspired by his example, there are now more than 30 Sands United teams across Britain. Each team’s kit is embroidered with the names of the babies they have lost, and hundreds of men, and their families, have been empowered to open up about their loss, and support each other through sport.

This Morning Emergency Services Award – Stephen Warton, 53, Cumbria

Part-time firefighter risked his life to dive to the rescue of a teenager who had been submerged in icy waters for more than 20 minutes.  Kacper Krauze, 13, had been attempting to swim across the River Eden in Appleby-in-Westmorland in February 2019.  The weather was unseasonably warm, but the icy water sent his body into shock, and he sank to the bottom of the river.  Appleby fire and rescue officers, who are retained with full-time jobs including butcher and mechanic, were the first emergency responders on the scene.  Crew manager Stephen, a painter and decorator, and firefighter John Bell went into the river, supported by colleagues David Anderton, Michael Dowding, Bradley Hall, James Wood and Neil Aitken from the river bank.  After a short search they located Kacper under two to three metres of water.  Unable to dive down and reach him due to his safety gear, Stephen went against protocol and took off his flotation equipment and helmet so he could dive fully and bring the boy to the surface.  Kacper had been underwater for about 25 minutes, and when Stephen brought him to the bank, he was in cardiac arrest and severely hypothermic.  Paramedics resuscitated him and he was flown by air ambulance to hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma. He spent several weeks in intensive care but has since made a steady recovery.  Mum Wioletta said: “It’s a miracle he survived. Every day is a little bit better, and he’s slowly getting back to normal."

Good Morning Britain Young Fundraiser – Hughie Higginson, 10, and Freddie Xavi, 11, Lancashire

Best pals have raised more than £200,000 after Hughie was diagnosed with Leukaemia and Freddie vowed to help him thank his doctors and nurses.  Hughie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia last September and began three years of treatment at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. He wanted to say thank you to the medics looking after him so he signed up for the hospital charity’s fundraising walk.  Sadly, on the day he was too ill to take part, which is when best pal Freddie stepped up. He devised his own fundraising challenge on behalf of his pal, running 2km every day in the 50 days leading up to Christmas.  He completed the final 2km on Christmas morning, pounding the streets before opening his presents. Hughie summoned all his strength to join his mate on the final stretch so they could cross the line together, hand-in-hand.  The football-mad boys’ inspirational friendship, and incredible fundraising efforts touched hearts in their Lancashire community and beyond, and the pair have now raised more than £220,000.  Georgia Sleigh from the hospital charity said: “Freddie and Hughie are just incredible words just don’t do justice to how inspiring they both are.”

Child of Courage – Harmonie-Rose Allen, 7, Bath

Quadruple amputee given a 10% chance of survival as a toddler has inspired the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.  Harmonie-Rose was 10 months old, and had recently taken her first steps, when she started coughing and struggling for breath. Doctors twice allowed her home from A&E, but the next day, she went floppy and a rash appeared.  This time she was blue lit to Bristol Children’s Hospital, but doctors did not know if she would survive the journey.  She arrived in a critical condition and her limbs had turned black. Meningococcal septicaemia had damaged her legs, arms and the tip of her nose, leaving surgeons with no choice but to amputate.  She was given a 10% chance of survival, and her parents were asked for permission to turn off her life support if necessary.  Since then, and after more than 10 operations, she has beaten the odds. With enormous public help and unique family support she has thrived and now loves writing, drawing as well as many sports including swimming, dancing, gymnastics.  In 2019, she crossed the finish line of the Bath Half Marathon on her prosthetics, raising £6,450 for the children’s charity, Time Is Precious.  During the first lockdown in 2020, she completed her 2.6 challenge, tackling six things doctors said she’d never do because of her disabilities, 26 times.  These were running, singing, drawing, swimming, gymnastics and jumping, and she raised more than £76,000 for Meningitis Now.  Her latest challenge this year was to scale a climbing wall 100 times and run 500m for the first time on her blades in a bid to raise £20,000 for an accessible playground.  In March she received her first bionic arm. One of her first jobs was to paint her new nails and it also means she can hold her mum's hand for the first time since she was a baby.

Spirit of Adventure – Max Woosey, 11, North Devon

“Tent Boy” Max has spent more than 500 nights sleeping under canvas, raising £640,000 for his local hospice.  Neighbour and family friend Rick Abbott was terminally ill with cancer when he gave Max a tent, and told him to “go have an adventure”.  When Rick passed away, Max decided to do a sponsored camp out to raise money for the hospice which had cared for his friend in his final weeks.  In March 2020, he set himself the target of sleeping in the tent until the end of lockdown and hoped he might raise £100.  As lockdown restrictions dragged on, Max refused to come in from the cold and donations poured into his JustGiving page. Now, nearly 18 months later, he is still on his fundraising mission.  At 8pm each night, the 11-year-old puts on his pyjamas, collects up his teddies, the Beano and his torch, says goodnight to his parents and makes his way to the garden.  The marathon camper has now been sleeping outdoors for more than 500 nights, braving sub-zero frosts, heatwaves, and even Storm Bella.  He has raised more than £640,000 for North Devon Hospice, enough to pay for 15 community nurses and cover more than half the hospice’s estimated losses due to the pandemic.  Max has also inspired thousands of other children to take part in a Big Camp Out for Action For Children.

Special Recognition – Gee Walker, 67, Liverpool

Forgave her son’s killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory, building a legacy of love to overcome hate.  The brutal racist murder of Anthony Walker in 2005 shocked the nation. The 18-year-old aspiring lawyer was chased from a bus stop in Huyton, Merseyside and killed with an ice pick in an unprovoked attack.  His mum Gee refused to let her life, and Anthony’s memory, be consumed by bitterness, declaring of his killers: "I forgive them. I don’t hate them. Hate is what killed my son. I am in enough pain. Why take on and carry about hate and anger as well?”

Her actions in the following 16 years have been just as powerful as her words. She founded the Anthony Walker Foundation in 2006 to combat racism and offer a space for people to feel safe after suffering racial abuse.  In the last five years, the Foundation has worked with nearly 40,000 young people through educational and outreach programmes in schools.  Its victim support services have also helped nearly 10,000 people who have experienced hate crime while volunteers have engaged with thousands in a bid to build safer, stronger communities.  Despite her achievements on a national scale, when asked what she is most proud of, she says simply: “Being a mum and a nan”

Environmental Champion – Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, Nottingham

Campaigning sisters set up a kid’s charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.  Amy and Ella are the founders of youth social action group Kids Against Plastic, which is now a registered charity.  It calls for action against plastic pollution and encourages individuals, schools and businesses to be more ‘plastic clever’ and ditch single use plastics where possible.  So far more than 1,000 schools and 50 cafes, businesses, festivals and councils have committed to being ‘plastic clever’.  The sisters, from Nottingham, have given TED talks, spoken with leaders in the aviation industry about reducing their plastic footprint, addressed politicians in the House of Commons and spoken at the United Nations’ Young Activist Summit in December 2019.  They've personally collected 100,000 pieces of rubbish, one for every sea mammal killed by plastic pollution every year, and run a scheme to champion other anti-plastic activists who do the same around the country.  Their first book, Be Plastic Clever, has just been published.

Prince’s Trust Young Achiever – Hassan Alkhawam, 23, Northern Ireland

When Hassan Alkhawam, aged 23, and his family fled their home in Syria due to the war, they were given refugee status and rehomed in Northern Ireland in 2017.  Since arriving in the country, Hassan has transformed his life. He is now studying Software Engineering at university and has been a key worker in Tesco during the Covid 19 pandemic.  Before coming to Northern Ireland, Hassan’s father became ill and was no longer able to work, meaning Hassan had to leave full-time education and get a job to support the family.  When he arrived in Northern Ireland, Hassan wanted to return to education and fulfil his dream of going to university but needed to take an English language course before he could apply.  At the time, Hassan was not working and didn’t have money to pay for the course. A friend told him about The Prince’s Trust and Hassan got in touch to see if they could help.  He took part in The Prince’s Trust Get into Retail programme, a training and mentoring scheme that gives young people the skills, experience, and confidence they need to find a job.  After completing the four-week programme he was offered a job and started working there just before the pandemic began.  As well as working part time and studying, Hassan is a voluntary Director of a local charity, NI Hyatt, that supports vulnerable members of the refugee and migrant communities.  He has recently completed courses in advocacy and interpreting so that he can help this community settle into life in Northern Ireland.

Special Recognition - The Oxford Vaccine Team

“We couldn’t be here without them,” said Carol as she announced the Special Recognition award for the team of scientists who developed the Oxford coronavirus -1>coronavirus vaccine.

The six men and women representing Prof Sarah Gilbert’s team received the loudest and longest standing ovation of the night, as the audience applauded them for nearly two minutes.  The team throughout lockdown, fitting in 16-hour days around home-schooling to create the world’s most potent weapon against Covid in record time.  By the end of July 2021, more than a billion doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had been delivered to more than 170 countries worldwide.  The team received their gong from TV icon Stephen Fry, who said he “would have walked 100 miles over broken glass barefoot to present the award”.

Afterwards, Stephen said he was the one who was starstruck. “I couldn’t believe I was going to speak to them,” he said.

“I’m never going to meet Edward Jenner, who gave the first smallpox vaccinations, or Fleming who discovered penicillin, but these people are of an equal status.  It’s extraordinary what they did.”

Dr Catherine Green said: “It’s lovely to have the recognition of the British public. We are just doing our job but to be recognised for doing your job under extraordinary circumstances feels really momentous.”