Pride of Britain Awards

2017 Winner Abbie Westgate Abbie experienced a difficult childhood and a strained relationship with her family growing up. This meant that from a young age, she had to become independent in the family home and take herself to and from school. At the age of 11, the family moved to a new area, which had […]

2017 Winner Harry Steel Harry, of Wallsend, was just eight when, in 2015, he lost his uncle and godfather David, 36, to sudden cardiac death. Tragically a year later his dad Steve died just three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. Devastated by his family losses Harry decided to bring something positive out of these […]

2017 Winner Professor Robin Sengupta Growing up in Chitagong, now in Bangladesh, then part of Pakistan, Ram Prasad Sengupta could hardly have imagined his life today as a world-renowned neurosurgeon, honoured by royalty for his incredible work. Professor Sengupta, 79, known to friends in Newcastle as Robin, was born into extreme poverty. Despite his intellect, […]

2017 Winner Lynn Lucas Devoted and defiant mum Lynn Lucas has raised more than £2 million for cancer research since the tragically early death of her son Chris aged 18 in 2000. Lynn’s son Chris died of a rare form of cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma – a cancer that resembles muscle tissue, leading to his dedicated mum […]

2017 Winner Equal Arts, Henpower HenPower was set up by the charity Equal Arts in 2011 with the aim of using hen-keeping to tackle social isolation, reduce depression and improve people’s wellbeing. Equal Arts’ director, Douglas Hunter, tells us how the project began. “We had been working in a care home when a resident with […]

2017 Winner Adam Tomlinson and Peter Senior Off-duty highways officer Peter Senior was having a coffee at a roadside coffee shop while Adam Tomlinson was driving home from work, when a motorcycle collided with a car on the A167 near Spennymoor, County Durham. The 52-year-old rider was thrown into the air and the female motorist […]