The ceremony, which was held earlier in the week, is being broadcast on ITV1(Image: Steve Bainbridge)

The Pride of Britain Awards is back for another year to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of everyday individuals from across the UK.

Held every year since 1999, the awards are organised in partnership with the Daily Mirror, TSB Bank, Lidl, ITV, Good Morning Britain, and The Prince’s Trust.

Every iteration of the event has been presented by Carol Vorderman, 64, best known for her work on Countdown from 1982 until 2008.

After making his debut as a co-presenter last year, Diversity’s Ashley Banjo, 37, is back alongside Carol for the evening.

Held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Monday night (October 21), the awards will air on ITV1 and ITVX on Thursday night (October 23) from 8pm.

With plenty of famous faces, including Strictly’s Amy Dowden, former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan and BBC Morning Live’s Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones among those in attendance, the real stars of the night are the winners.

People of ages and backgrounds, who were nominated by the public, will be receiving awards for achievements such as performing acts of kindness, displaying courage and overcoming adversity.

Special Recognition – Asha Ali Rage(Image: Steve Bainbridge / Daily Mirror)

Mum-of three Asha, 46, is a football coach who initially underwent training with Aston Villa as she wanted to keep young people off the streets and give them new opportunities through the sport.

Asha founded Dream Chasers FC in Small Heath, an area of the West Midlands which has one of the highest rates of knife crime in the country, in 2016, Asha has built a community hub where all young people can feel secure, supported and valued.

As well as helping young people feel secure, supported and valued, Dream Chasers FC has become a social enterprise dedicated to giving young people safe spaces, life skills, and opportunities. The organisation runs mental health and employment workshops, including youth mentoring sessions at local schools as well as activities such as dance lessons. On top of this, it offers English lessons to migrant parents, has provided food parcels to those in need, offers various workshops and has a Ladies Community Hub.

“I faced a lot of negativity at the beginning as a Muslim woman playing football. Now parents say: ‘If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t know what my boys would be doing’. Our work changes lives and that’s what keeps me doing what I do. It’s so important for people to have a safe space and sense of belonging,” Asha said.

Good Morning Britain Young Fundraiser – Georgie Hyslop(Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

Georgie is a teenage cancer patient who has worked tirelessly helping others and raised £55,000 for charity. When Georgie was 15 in 2023 she was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare cancer in the bones and soft tissue around them, with doctors initially thinking she had a stress fracture in her leg.

Georgie immediately agreed to donate her tissue to Cancer Research and in the months after her diagnosis raised more than £15,000 for the Schiehallion Ward at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, the Teenage Cancer Trust and Marion’s House.

Receiving four rounds of chemotherapy and 33 of radiation, Georgie has continued to display strength, dressing up as SpiderMan to cheer up a four-year-old receiving radiation treatment and giving other patients cars to give them a boost. While she entered remission in July last year, Georgie was informed her cancer was back earlier in the year as she continues to fundraise.

Georgie said: “Survival rates for Ewing Sarcoma are single digits but I’ve always said I will be one of those digits. My main aim is to help others going through the same thing. Hospitals can be a scary place so I just wanted to find a way to make the experience a little better by either fundraising or raising a smile. Yes my cancer has returned but you just have to keep going,” she added. “I have lots of fundraising planned and lots to look forward to.”

King’s Trust Young Achiever – Harry Byrne(Image: David Dyson)

Harry, now 24, was just 11 when his mum passed away suddenly on Christmas morning, which eventually led him down the wrong path. Having been admitted to hospital amid struggles with his mental health, Harry ended up homeless.

“Life was chaotic. I was struggling with my mental health and my confidence was the lowest it had ever been. “I had no job, no qualifications and no permanent home. I felt like I had no real prospects or skills to overcome the challenges I was facing,” the Coventry native said.

Harry soon sought support from local homelessness charity St Basil’s, that Harry found out about The King’s Trust Get Started in Outdoor Leadership programme, delivered in partnership with Coventry Outdoors Education and Adventure Service.

Soon finding out he strived in outdoor activities, Harry was able to learn practical skills and began to see his own potential for the first time. Achieving ten qualifications through the programme, Harry later got a job with Coventry Outdoors Education and Adventure Service.

Now working directly with young people going through similar struggles to his, Harry is hoping to one day run his own therapy-based coaching and use his experience to help others.

P&O Cruises Inspiration Award – Javeno McLean(Image: David Dyson / Daily Mirror)

Personal trainer Javeno McLean has been using his skills as an exercise and health specialist to improve the lives of the elderly and people with disabilities for over two decades.

The 40-year-old began his mission to help those with disabilities when he noticed a boy in a wheelchair struggling in the gym, before offering to train him at the age of 16. On a separate occasion, Javeno invited a man in a wheelchair he noticed on the sidelines to play cricket with him and his friends.

In 2016, Javeno set up the J7 Gym in Manchester, an inclusive space with a dedicated section for elderly clients and those with a range of abilities. The gym welcomes hundreds of people each year with a range of disabilities, free of charge, including cancer patients and survivors, stroke victims and people with dementia.

“Inclusivity is so important, when you include people you empower them. We live in a society where people can feel dehumanised, unseen. I don’t see their wheelchair, the medication, the barriers. I can’t explain what it means to me, it’s the most powerful thing,” he said. “It’s 100% life changing and so much more than exercise, so much more powerful. For my guys it’s not about aesthetic change, it’s life or death.

“I’ve had cancer patients with three months to live, disabled people who feel the door has closed on them. It’s my job to remind them that they are built strong,” he said.

ITV Fundraise of the Year – Joanne Harris(Image: Steve Bainbridge / Daily Mirror)

Joanne, from County Down, was inspired in 2016 when a close friend, Linda Ferguson, who was fighting breast cancer, shared the challenges of living with traditional silicone prostheses.

Seeking to help her friend find a solution, Joanne Joanne discovered the Knitted Knockers movement in the United States, which offered lightweight, 100% cotton alternatives made by volunteers. Joanne went on launch Knitted Knockers in 2016, a volunteer-led charity providing hand-knitted breast prosthetics to women who have undergone mastectomy surgery,

With 74 volunteers taking part, the group crafts 5,000 soft, breathable breast prosthetics provided to cancer and mastectomy patients free of charge, annually, which are supplied to hospitals, breast care clinics, and individual women across Northern Ireland.

The charity also produces waterproof ‘swimming knockers’, post-surgery comfort kits, and drain bag covers, offering both physical and emotional comfort to women during recovery. Having already connected a community with workshops and classes, Joanne launched The Clubhouse in 2017, a mental health and well-being initiative to establish creative and social programmes to help support breast cancer survivors.

Special Recognition – Leanne Pero MBE(Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

Leanne, 30, is a breast cancer survivor who e launched a community-focused dance company to help people facing challenges when she was just 15. Crediting dance for saving her after experiencing childhood sexual abuse, Leanne’s The Movement Factory helps young people develop their physical and mental wellbeing in a safe community space through dance.

After getting the all clear in 2016, Leanne went on to establish Black Women Rising, an ward winning cancer support charity which has raised £1million to fund support and advice.

Londoner Leanne, who got the cancer all clear in 2016, also started an award winning cancer support charity Black Women Rising, after realising the stigma existing around the disease in the Black community – raising over £1million to fund support and advice.

She said of surviving cancer: “I still get asked all the time, are you the same person? And it’s like no, you’re never the same person ever again. I remember after being given the all clear, I had so many people go ‘right, you’ve got your life back, that’s it, it’s all over’.

‘The worst part of the journey was actually finishing treatment, because the doctors, the nurses, your healthcare team go away and you’re sort of left and it’s like actually where’s your new normal, who am I now? And that is where I really struggled.”

Child of Courage – Luke Mortimer(Image: Steve Bainbridge)

Luke, 12, contracted meningococcal meningitis septicaemia in 2019 and had to have all his limbs amputated, enduring 23 operations and spending six months in hospital as a result.

Since then, Luke has been working to raise money for children’s disabilities, and has since climbed 656ft in 2023 to the summit of Embsay Crag, near Skipton, raising more than £26,000.

Last year saw Luke climb Pen-y-ghent with his mum Christine and brother Harry, meeting his dad Adam and a team of 19 people who climbed the National Three Peaks and Yorkshire Three Peaks. Through this they raised almost £20,000 to help fund prosthetics for Luke and help other child amputees.

Shortly after this, Luke and his young friends managed to match the 22 mile distance of an adult kayak challenge led by his dad, by using rowing machines and treadmills, raising more than £7,500 of their £30,000 target.

“The biggest challenge for me was learning again all of the things you usually learn at an incredibly young age,” said Luke. “But I’m a reasonably positive person and believe the past is in the past and you should concentrate on the future,” Luke said.

Special recognition – Marcus Skeet(Image: Dave Nelson / Daily Mirror)

Marcus was 15 when he made a suicide attempt, having struggled with his physical and mental health after becoming a carer for his dad, who had dementia at the age of 12.

Discovering a love for jogging, this year saw Marcus become the first under 18 to run the entire length of the UK, raising £164,560 for Mind. Marcus also raised £8,000 for Mind in April 2024 he ran a mile a day and a further £19,590 by running a marathon.

“I promise you, every road may have speed bumps but you’ll get over them. Mental health is such a big thing,” he said.

Outstanding Bravery – PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield, PC Cameron King and Inspector Moloy Campbell(Image: David Dyson)

These three police officers overcame Marcus Arduini Monzo, who crashed a van into a house in Hainault, East London, hitting a pedestrian, before leaving the vehicle brandishing a 60cm samurai-style sword on April 20 last year. The attacker killed teenager Daniel Anjorin, 14, who died at the scene from injuries to his neck and chest. Monzo also attacked an ambulance, forcing paramedics to retreat.

PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield and PC Cameron King were the first police officers to confront Monzo, chasing him down an alleyway, with PC Mechem-Whitfield attacked with the sword, causing catastrophic arm injuries that nearly severed her hand. Inspector Moloy Campbell, arrived at the scene without his taser and had to use his baton, but Monzo sliced through his body camera and his hand, almost severing his thumb. After Inspector Campbell’s intervention, other officers were able to deploy multiple Taser charges and finally subdue the killer.

Kirsty O’Connor from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The courage shown by PC Mechem-Whitfield, PC King, Inspector Campbell and others who selflessly sought to apprehend Arduini-Monzo whilst facing extreme personal danger was exceptional and undoubtedly prevented further loss of life. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.”

Lifetime Achievement – Sally Becker(Image: Steve Bainbridge / Daily Mirror)

Sally Becker went to war torn Bosnia in 1993 to help after being horrified by images of suffering. Sally was tasked with evacuating sick and injured children in an old Bedford van to hospital.

The past three decades have seen her helping thousands of children besieged areas, including Kosovo, Northern Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Gaza. Sally was previously shot by masked gunmen in Northern Albania and survived an attack by ISIS militants in Mosul.

In 2016, Sally launched Save a Child, a British charity providing medical treatment for children in conflict areas. Sally eventually launched a mobile telemedicine programme connecting local doctors with a global network of paediatric specialists.

She said: “We have saved thousands of children in Afghanistan thanks to our pediatric experts in the UK and Sweden.”

This Morning Local Heroes – Ups & Downs(Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

Initially created by three music teachers at an additional needs school in 1995, the Ups & Downs theatre group based in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, provides support for young people with Down syndrome and their families.

Now led by Lorna Leggatt, whose son Ellis, 26, has been a member since he was five, Ups & Downs offers inclusive activities including music, dance and drama to around 70 members, who have Down’s syndrome or a sibling with the condition.

Lorna said: “The audience come thinking that they are just supporting a local charity but leave completely amazed and moved.”

Teenager of Courage – Zach Eagling(Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

Zach, 14, left with cerebral palsy and epilepsy after suffering a brain injury at birth. Zach began raising money for the Epilepsy Society by walking laps of his garden in the 2020 lockdown.

Despite online trolls trying to trigger a seizure by sending him flashing images, Zach successfully campaigned for legislation to protect people with epilepsy online. Introduced in the UK in 2023, Zach’s Law has made it a criminal offence to troll anyone with epilepsy to deliberately cause a seizure, carrying a maximum five year jail term.

Raising over £20,00 for the Epilepsy Society, Zach has since launched a petition to make public transport more accessible for disabled people.