OUR EVERYDAY HEROES

THE A-LIST GATHERED AT LONDON’S GROSVENOR HOTEL TO CELEBRATE THE 2021 PRIDE OF BRITAIN AWARDS

- ANNA MATHESON

The red carpet outside London’s Grosvenor Hotel welcomed a host of celebrities to celebrate the extraordinary achievements made by ordinary people at this year’s Pride of Britain Awards.

Prince Charles, Simon Cowell and Ant and Dec were among the 150 famous faces who were on hand to present accolades to our unsung heroes. The ceremony, which took place on 30 October, was particularly emotional and tinged with sadness after the awards’ founder Peter Willis passed away earlier this year aged just 54.

Among the winners were firefighter Stephen Wharton, 53, who risked his own life to save a teenager from drowning in the River Eden, Cumbria, and 10-year-old Hughie Higginson and his friend Freddie Xavi, 11, who received a gong from Sir Mo Farah for raising more than £200,000 after Hughie was diagnosed with leukaemia.

Harmonie-Rose Allen, seven, who had to have her arms and legs amputated when she was a toddler because of meningitis, was handed the Child Of Courage award by Westlife. Bear Grylls was on hand to give Max Woosey, 12, the Spirit Of Adventure award for his determined effort in raising £640,000 for a Devon hospice by sleeping in a tent for more than 500 nights.

Joanna Lumley handed the Lifetime Achievement award to Rosemary Cox, 82, for her work in setting up the first NHS Organ Donor Register in the UK following the death of her son Peter, 24, from a brain tumour in 1989. Gee Walker, whose son Anthony Walker, 18, was murdered in a racist attack in 2005, was honoured for her work launching the Anthony Walker Foundation, which helps victims of hate crimes.