Pride of Britain Awards

2005 Winner Richard Curtis Make Poverty History, Live8 and Comic Relief are just a few of the ideas Richard Curtis has made a reality, impacting on millions of people’s lives all around the globe. Curtis is probably best known by the public for writing the scripts for the Blackadder TV comedy series and the film […]

2005 Winner Asmeret Tesfazghi Despite losing her homeland and her father, Asmeret Tesfazghi considers herself a lucky woman. After fleeing the war-torn African country of Eritrea in 1989, Asmeret and her mother Letina arrived in London with Letina’s other children – an older son and daughter – to seek refuge. Since then, the family have […]

2005 Winner Liz Owens Long before Jamie Oliver had spotted his first Turkey Twizzler, pioneering head teacher Liz Owens decided to take control of school meals and improve kids’ lives. When Liz took over as head teacher of South London’s Charles Dickens Primary School in 1998, it had failed an inspection as a result of […]

2005 Winner Mark Johnson Five and a half years ago, Mark Johnson was living on the streets of London begging for money to fuel his drug and alcohol addiction.  Today, 34-year-old Mark has beaten his demons and set up his own successful tree surgery business, Treewise. Originally from the West Midlands, Mark spent 15 years […]

2005 Winner Lesley Pulman When the family from hell moved into her street, Lesley Pulman single-handedly took on the bullies and won. Lesley’s ordeal began in 2001 when, overnight, her pleasant street in Manchester turned into a drop-in centre for yobs. “They had no respect for anybody or anything,” she says, “and didn’t fear anyone, […]

2005 Winner Liz Carnell Liz Carnell launched the immensely successful charity Bullying Online as a direct result of a family member’s misery. In 1994, Liz’s son John was being badly bullied. She immediately did what any parent would do and approached the school for help. When they failed, she turned to the Local Education Authority. […]