Pride of Britain Awards

1999 Winner Kevin Dingle, Mike Edkins and Paul Pollington It was evening on September 6 1998 and light was fading fast when the Port Isaac Lifeboat rescue unit received a mayday call. A child had fallen from rocks into the sea, his father had dived in to rescue him and both were trapped. They had […]

1999 Winner Helen Ridding Helen Ridding took on a challenge few teachers would contemplate when she accepted a job at one of the worst primary schools in the country. Pupils hurled missiles around and education chiefs would only allow a class to go ahead if two teachers were present, because the pupils were so disruptive. […]

2000 Winner Chad Varah The Reverend Chad Varah was a newly-ordained vicar working in London’s East End when the story of a young girl’s suicide moved him to set up a telephone helpline for people who had lost all hope. In November 1953 his small group of volunteers started to answer calls from desperate people […]

2000 Winner Tim Berners-Lee Tim Berners-Lee is one of the most influential men in the world but although millions of people use his invention every day, few have even heard of him. If 1999 was the year of the Internet revolution then Tim, 44, truly deserves recognition — because he invented the WorldWideWeb. And what’s […]

2000 Winner The Heroes of Paddington The Paddington rail disaster was the accident that should never have happened. When two packed commuter trains collided on October 5, 1999, close to Ladbroke Grove in London, 31 people lost their lives and many more were badly injured. Amid the chaos and confusion of a major tragedy, it […]

2000 Winner Mike and Fiona Thornewill, Catherine Hartley, Caroline Hamilton, Ann Daniels, Rosie Stancer, Zoe Hudson, Pom Oliver In temperatures of minus 50cel, during “white out” blizzards and faced with an ocean of ice, their dreams were of simple things such as the colour of trees or a comfortable chair to sit on. But the […]