The victorious England football team who were crowned European champions this summer have been honoured for inspiring the nation at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards 2022. The Lionesses took to the stage alongside community heroes from up and down the country at the glittering event, while their own heroes were in the star-studded audience.
Awards host Carol Vorderman asked Lioness Jill Scott - rumoured to be heading out to the jungle for this year's I'm A Celebrity - what it was like to face constant questions about why she wanted to play football when she was growing up, and what inspired her to become a Lioness.
Jill said: "Obviously Frank Lampard's here, he was my hero growing up. David Beckham, Steven Gerrard - so obviously the men's football really inspired me. And it's just so good that we did get winning form this summer with this incredible group of players and staff."
Host Ashley Banjo asked Alessia Russo about her incredible back-heel goal when the Lionesses played Sweden - describing it as 'one of the best goals I have ever seen'. She said: "I don't even know what I was thinking when I did it. It was a moment of instinct and I think that's what was instilled in us all over the summer - that we could play with freedom, and that's why we were so successful."
Ella Toone was asked what she would say to any girl who watched the Lionesses and has been inspired. She said: "Just go for it. All of us started somewhere.
"For us now, we want to inspire the next generation of young girls to get involved in football, and if that's just one then that's amazing."
Watch the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, tonight, ITV, 8pm
he judging panel selected England’s European champions for the special award for “galvanising” the nation and providing a whole generation with “new role models”.
Also among those being recognised at the awards are three fathers, Andy Airey, 61, Mike Palmer, 57, and Tim Owen, 52, who embarked on a charity walk that raised more than £880,000 in memory of their three young daughters who each took their own lives.
The trio from Manchester, Norfolk, and Cumbria will be given a special recognition award for trekking 550 miles over 31 days. Mr Airey said: “During our walk we met very many suicide-bereaved parents, all of them said the same thing; it was only after they lost their child that they discovered that suicide was the biggest killer of under 35’s in the UK; they all asked, ‘If suicide is the biggest threat to our children’s lives, why is no one talking about it?’”
Tim Owen, Mike Palmer and Andy Airey will receive a special recognition award for trekking 550 miles over 31 days to raise money in memory of their daughters (Image: Papyrus)
Jill Allen-King who lost her sight on her wedding night aged 24 due to glaucoma and was sterilised at the urging of doctors, will also be honoured with the lifetime achievement award. Ms King, 82, from Southend-On-Sea, campaigned during her life for access for guide dogs in public spaces and became the first female president of the National Federation of the Blind UK.
School girl Elizabeth Soffe, eight, wins the Child of Courage Award for her charity run which raised £202,000 for the hospital that saved her life. Birmingham Children’s Hospital treated her after a faulty air conditioner blaze set fire to her room and cot. Soffe, who still has scars, tells people: “It doesn’t matter what you look like, it just matters that you’re kind.”
A 15-year-old girl who saved two lives after they were swept away by treacherous river currents will be given the teenager of courage award. Lucy Montgomery from Armagh saved family friend Mathieu, eight, and her father Graham, who cannot swim, when the pair were dragged out during paddle-boarding in the Charente River in France.
David Groves, 32, from Somerset, and Alex Harvey, 28, from Hull, will be given the outstanding bravery award. The HMS Argyll sailors saved 27 men who were on board 28,000-tonne cargo ship the Grande American when it caught on fire 150 miles off the French coast.
A mother-of-four from east London will also be given the TSB community hero for supporting and feeding the community. Michelle Dornelly, who formed the Hackney Community Food Hub, fed more than 100,000 people while living on Universal Credit payments.
Police officers James Willetts, 25, and Leon Mitoo, 34, from the west Midlands, will be given the This Morning Emergency Services Award after being stabbed in Bromwich town centre. Brothers Parminder Hunjan, 37, and Maninder Hunjan, 26, were jailed for a total of 26 years for the act in May 2022. Mr Mittoo said: “I thought I was going to die. I just did everything I could. It was a fight for survival.”
Tobias Weller, 11, who lives with autism and cerebral palsy, is the GMB young fundraiser of the year for raising £158,000 (Image: Weller family)
Tobias Weller, 11, who lives with autism and cerebral palsy, scoops up the GMB young fundraiser of the year for raising £158,000 for causes like his school and Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
Alex Anderson, 22, from Newport becomes the Prince’s Trust young achiever of the year. After Mr Anderson was rejected from the RAF in 2017 due to his Asperger diagnosis, he spent 1,000 hours of his time supporting veterans, the elderly and young people across Gwent. He is now a logistic supplier at RAF Odiham in Hampshire.
More than 150 famous faces including Idris Elba, Dame Mary Berry, Molly-Mae Hague, Tommy Fury, Olly Murs and Holly Willoughby are set to join this year’s winners to celebrate their heroism and bravery at the event. Among the star-studded judging panel is actor Michael Sheen, Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams, Radio DJ Adele Roberts, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners Clare Gerada and Chief Constable Serena Kennedy of Merseyside Police as well as broadcasters Moira Stuart and Kate Garraway.
The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards will be broadcast on ITV tonight at 8pm.
