Some of the region’s unsung heroes will rightfully be honoured at this year’s Pride of Manchester Awards in a live-streamed ceremony this evening.
The annual ceremony – which is now in its second year – aims to celebrate community champions from the region who go the extra mile to help out other people, but instead of a glitzy awards show this year, the event will be held online.
This is of course due to local lockdown restrictions amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Pride of Manchester Awards 2020 – in association with TSB and the MEN – will be streamed live across The Pride of Britain’s social media platforms and can be watched on Facebook and YouTube.
Packed with inspirational winners, emotional moments and amazing celebrity surprises, the special ceremony – which is hosted by Kym Marsh – is set to be the perfect pick-me-up during these difficult times, and will also see the courage and dedication of frontline NHS staff during the pandemic honoured.
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There will be no shortage of famous faces either, with everyone from Little Mix to Olly Murs set to make an appearance and celebrate the winners.
The ceremony is due to begin at 7pm BST.
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Here are this year’s set of inspirational individuals who will be honoured this evening.
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Isabella Hibbert
Child of Courage
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Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
Isabella Hibbert – a courageous youngster from Oldham, who was just four at the time – managed to find and unlock her Mum Chelsea’s phone to called 999 for an ambulance after she collapsed and fell unconscious on the kitchen floor.
The young hero – who is now six – was able to give the call handler her address so that they could send help.
She also clearly answered questions asked by the handler, such as “is your Mummy breathing?”, and “is your mummy awake?”.
She then dragged her chair from the living room to the front door, so she could reach the keys to open it for the paramedics, before ringing her Grandmother – again on Chelsea’s phone – to tell her what had happened.
Chelsea, 29, was taken to hospital and has since made a full recovery.
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Katie Holmes
Teenager of Courage
Katie Holmes has cerebral palsy, but refuses to let her condition define her.
Her condition was caused by a bleed on the brain when she was born prematurely at 28 weeks, and since then, she has had to undergo five major operations to help her walk. She currently has metal rods in her legs and also uses sticks for support, but “selfless” Katie has dedicated her time to help raise money to help others.
She has taken on several challenges – including the Great Manchester Run – to help pay for her ongoing physiotherapy.
This year, she is running 2k to raise funds for the Stockport Cerebral Palsy Society.
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Luchia Fitzgerald
Lifetime Achievement Award
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
Luchia has been a trailblazing campaigner for LGBT and women’s rights for 60 years.
She arrived in the city from her native Ireland as a teenager in 1961 after she had fled a physically and emotionally abusive upbringing with her grandmother – who beat her after she found out she was gay – and then found refuge at the New Union Hotel.
She was one of the founders of the first women’s refuge outside London, and helped organise a monumental march against Clause 28 in the 1980s. The 73-year-old is now chair of Irwell Valley Homes residents group, and she advocates for the LGBT community – in particular for older LGBT people – whose needs are overlooked in housing and care planning.
She said: “I was shocked and overwhelmed to win the Pride of Manchester Award.
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“Experiencing such misery in my youth is what drove me to make a world a better place.”
Paul Redfern
TSB Community Spirit Award
Paul Redfern leads a group of lifesaving bikers – Blood Bikes Manchester – who deliver vital blood supplies where they are most urgently needed to hospitals.
He set up the group 2012 after losing his right leg in a serious motorbike accident aged 18 and having his life saved by an emergency blood transfusion. Last year, his team of volunteers saved local NHS and hospice services around £340,000 after completing 18 emergency runs, 564 urgent runs, and 680 non urgent and routine sample runs on their bikes.
Paul said he was “delighted” with his award.
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Jim Nicholas
Fundraiser of the Year
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
DJ and Elvis impersonator Jim Nicholas has raised an impressive amount for Francis House Children’s Hospice.
Retired Jim – who worked as Head Gardener for the Bishop of Salford – has been performing in pubs and clubs for more than half a century, and over the past 25 years, he has put out a collection box during his shows at hundreds of venues across Greater Manchester and beyond.
In that time, delighted audiences have donated more than £200,000.
Joseph Hibbert
Young Fundraiser
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Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
10-year-old Joseph Hibbert from Cheadle Hulme has raised more than £32,000 for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital since he was just three, and hopes to raise another £10,000 when he and his friends climb Kinder Scout – the highest point in the Peak District – next year.
His Mum Shelley said: “It’s been a difficult few months with the pandemic, but I do think that doing good inspires other people to do good things too”.
Marcus Rashford
Special Recognition Award
Wythenshawe-born Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has won a Special Recognition Award for his remarkable campaign to #EndChildFoodPoverty
The 22-year-old convinced government ministers to make the u-turn on plans to end free school meals over the summer, which resulted in around 200,000 disadvantaged children being able to access food and support during the break.
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He continues to speak openly on the urgent issue on social media and in various media appearances.
Maggie Oliver
Special Recognition Award
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
Maggie Oliver – former Greater Manchester Police Detective – became a fearless whistleblower who exposed catastrophic failures to protect child victims of grooming gangs.
She bravely spoke out after Operation Augusta – a widespread investigation into a suspected grooming network – was dropped in the mid-00s, where eight of the potential suspects went on to rape or abuse other women and girls. In January this year, Maggie was vindicated by a damning independent review – which found police and social services knew girls were being abused, but failed to protect them – and that Operation Augusta had been shut down, because police were not prepared to commit resources to it.
Speaking of her award, Maggie said: “After all the doom and gloom it was much needed.
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“I was totally overwhelmed and it feels fantastic to be appreciated with this award.”
Dr Gerry O’Shea
Special Recognition Award
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
GP Gerry O’Shea has been treating homeless people in the city for more than 20 years.
He does so from The Urban Village medical practice in Ancoats, where around 750 homeless patients have registered there, using the address of the practice.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Gerry took a decision to open his surgery to people who are homeless here in the city of Manchester. He gives them help, vital healthcare, support to get off the street, but more than that, treats them with dignity and respect.”
Trending
Prince Andrew set to lose titles and leave Royal Lodge residence
Danny Jones
Prince Andrew is officially set to lose his royal titles and vacate his current residence, as per a direct communication from Buckingham Palace.
Most crucially, the statement makes a rather notable acknowledgement of the abuse claims still looming over the 65-year-old.
The decision was shared by the Royal Family and the likes of the BBC on Thursday evening, 30 October, with confirmation that the King’s brother will no longer be known as a prince, nor will he live at the Royal Lodge in Berkshire.
With countless people reacting online, this public address is a watershed moment for the monarchy.
BREAKING: The man once know as Prince, to be called Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. He is also out of Royal Lodge and going to Sandringham pic.twitter.com/RGT2NRgU7h
The official update on behalf of King Charles III reads as follows: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.
“Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease, and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
You can find out more about the formal process now said to be underway in more detail down below.
As yet, there has been no official response from Andrew Windsor or his representative regarding the breaking news.
Elsewhere, it is said that his daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, will retain their own royal titles, as they are still the daughters of the son of a Sovereign (in accordance with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917).
As for the now former Duke of York, the King’s younger brother and third child of the late Queen Elizabeth II, he is now preparing to relocate and settle into the royal estate at Sandringham.
This move is being privately paid for by the King, according to reports.
Salford Red Devils supporters meet winding-up adjournment with a petition of their own
Danny Jones
Large numbers of Salford Red Devils supporters are currently rallying behind the push to remove their current ownership group, meeting yet another delay to the winding-up petition with a petition of their own: one that would see the owners kicked out of the club, full stop.
Shared online yesterday, the ‘Salford Red Devils Fans Against Jacobsen Venture Group’ (JVG) petition has amassed more than 1,000 signatures and is rapidly gaining traction.
But these supposed assurances all sound far too familiar and are clearly no longer enough for most fans. They no longer care about future investment from those currently behind the scenes: they just want them gone for good.
For context, in addition to more than £700,000 in outstanding fees owed to HMRC, the 152-year-old sporting organisation is also estimated to owe in excess of £5m to various other creditors.
As a result, after a third stay of execution earlier this week – but one that has done little more than prolong this long-drawn-out uncertainty – most fans have simply had enough.
Following up with a lengthy open letter on Wednesday evening, 29 October, the increasingly militant fan group known as The 1873 said of the potential new funding, “Let us be absolutely clear, we have heard all of this before.”
Even poking holes in the board’s own statement, noting that it suggests that “funding has been formally secured” before noting that it has not yet officially arrived.
“This kind of vague language”, they say, “is exactly what supporters have been subjected to for months: a cycle of empty promises and missed deadlines.
Helping spearhead the ‘JVG Out’ petition, leading member Nick Holt went on to tell BBC Sport Manchester that the patience and blind faith have simply run out.
🗣️ "We do not want these within our club"
Salford Red Devils' owners announced they have secured new funding to settle outstanding debts and clear a winding-up petition against them.
The 1873 went on to write: “Back in September, the same individuals told the courts that funding would arrive ‘within 10 days’. It never did. In August, at the meeting with The 1873, they claimed money would be in place by the end of that month. It wasn’t.
“Every single time, the same promise and every single time, the same failure to deliver. False hope and no real investment. It is vital [that] supporters understand what is actually being proposed. The owners are not clearing the club’s debts, including the millions they have personally run up.
“Instead, they intend to roll all debts into one high-interest loan, a move that only deepens the long-term financial hole. How do they plan to service such a loan? Next season, the club’s central distribution is set to drop from around £1.3 million to less than £100,000.”
Noting that the recent IMG grading drop and subsequent relegation from the Betfred Super League will mean a significant drop in revenues across the board, they have quite rightly asked where the higher-ups expect to find the funds to make their already heavily overdue repayments.
“Season ticket sales are expected to collapse under the current ownership”, they continue, “and major commercial sponsors will not associate with this regime.
“To claim that this ‘funding’ secures the future of a 152-year-old club is not just misleading, it is an insult to every supporter who has kept this club alive through generations.”
A petition like this and further demonstrations were guaranteed from the moment Salford Red Devils were relegated.
The impassioned response from the group signs off by adding: “The ownership’s reference to a so-called ‘strategic plan’ for a return to Super League in 2027 is beyond belief. Where is this plan? Why has it not been shared with supporters?
“At this moment, there is no head coach for 2026, no contracted players, and no football department infrastructure. To talk about a Super League return within two years is pure fantasy […] The reality is simple: This ownership group has repeatedly failed to deliver on its promises.
“It has mismanaged and misled, time and again. Every new statement only confirms how detached they are from the damage they continue to cause.”
Most drastically, they insist that supporters will no longer “be fooled” nor continue to recognise the current ‘stewards’ failing to live up to that title by giving their own time and money to the regime, urging fellow fans to refrain from renewing season tickets, purchasing any merchandise, or attending games.
It’s a bold stance, to be sure, but it’s clear that those most fiercely loyal of supporters are looking to wrestle back control however they can; if you’re one of them, you can sign the petition HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
1st October 2020 
