The M.E.N Pride of Manchester Awards with TSB, are back to honour the region’s unsung heroes and to celebrate those ordinary Mancunians who have done truly extraordinary things.
The star-studded awards – hosted by presenter and actor Kym Marsh, took place on Wednesday 10th May at The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester.
This year’s awards saw winners of all ages and from all walks of life being celebrated for their awe-inspiring achievements; whether they have performed outstanding acts of courage, fought seemingly hopeless battles against the odds, displayed boundless compassion, or inspired everyone with their tireless campaigning for others.
Heroes have been recognised in a number of categories, including Outstanding Contribution, Emergency Services, Special Recognition, Child of Courage, Young Fundraiser, TSB Community Hero and Children’s Champion.
You meet so many inspirational people, and getting to listen to their stories, and be inspired by them, is a wonderful and special privilege
This year’s diverse and inspiring roll call of local people winning awards range from 11- 80 years of age. They include a bullied youngster who is raising money for the hospitals that looked after him, an off-duty police officer who tackled a machete-armed man near a school, an Accordion-playing pensioner who has raised £420,000 for hospice & hospitality charities and a legendary local cook who has devoted herself to helping the most vulnerable in the community when times are hard.
Previously, Pride of Manchester winners have gone on to be recognised on the national stage at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with TSB, which is aired on ITV in the Autumn. Since the first Pride of Britain in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from show business, sport, politics, and the arts have all taken part.
This year’s awards were a star-studded event, with a host of celebrities attending on the night to celebrate the city’s heroes. Famous faces including Harry Maguire, Helen Flanaghan, Christine McGuinness, Allesio Russo, Sair Khan, Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan, Brooke Vincent, Shaun Ryder, Bez, Sue Johnstone, Max George and Maisie Smith, Will Mellor, Naga Munchetty, Rebecca Adlington and Peter Hook.
Emma Springham, Chief Marketing Officer at TSB, headline sponsors of Pride of Manchester commented: “At TSB, we’re delighted to support the Pride of Manchester Awards, and it’s been a real pleasure for me to be part of this year’s judging panel. There were so many inspirational stories from all over Manchester, it was incredibly tough to choose between them. The communities we serve are at the heart of what we do at TSB, so we’re particularly proud to support the TSB Community Hero Award, and this year recognise Florence Coke’s outstanding efforts to improve the lives of those around her.”
Host Kym Marsh added: “It’s always a very special night, I love hosting these awards and feel very honoured to have been asked again. You meet so many inspirational people, and getting to listen to their stories, and be inspired by them, is a wonderful and special privilege.”
Here is the full list of amazing Pride of Manchester winners 2023
CHILD OF COURAGE: TAYLOR DIGNAN, 11
Bullied youngster with a rare health condition is raising awareness and money for thehospitals that look after him.
For his first challenge he completed 11 one-mile runs which ended up at his beloved Stockport County football ground and managed to raise more than £2,500 for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
For his next challenge, Taylor is running 20 miles in 20 days with 20 people – and so far he has already raised £1,700 towards his £5,000 target.
YOUNG FUNDRAISER: HANNAH MIAH, 11
Schoolgirl Hannah has raised more than £24,000 to help underprivileged youngsters in honour of her late community activist grandfather Mohammed, who taught her about the importance of charity. She pledged to walk 40km during Ramadan and initially set herself a £1,000 fundraising target. By the time she finished, her total had reached £15,620 for the Muslim Charity which went towards building two shelters for street children.
Sadly, just after Hannah’s first charity campaign, her grandad passed away. She was determined to keep on fundraising in his memory during Ramadan last May, she walked 50km and climbed Snowdon in Wales, raising a further £8,500.
EMERGENCY SERVICES: PC PAUL SPINKS
Police officer Paul was off duty last May when he spotted a man wielding a machete and making threats to members of the public near a school in Salford. With parents and children arriving on the morning school run, PC Spinks felt he had to act, despite wearing civilian clothes and without any protective equipment.
After calling in the incident, he approached the man with the machete who was agitated and not responding positively. A struggle ensued and PC Spinks was eventually able to disarm and restrain him. The man was later convicted and jailed.
FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR: JOHN JONES
Accordion-playing pensioner has spent three decades keeping people entertained and has raised £320,000 for East Cheshire Hospice and £100,000 for Macclesfield Hospital which cared for his wife before she passed away in 2020. At the age of 80 John Jones is still giving up his time for others.
Macclesfield Hospital chair Lynn McGill said, “On behalf of everyone at the trust, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to John for his time and commitment over the last 30 years. It’s always a pleasure to see John’s familiar face and hear him play his accordion and I know our patients, past and present, are comforted by his presence when they come for appointments.”
SPECIAL RECOGNITION: EHINOR OTAIGBE-AMEDU
Ehinor, who is a lawyer, is dedicated to helping women live their best lives – and access the support they need. She set up her Wonderfully Made Woman charity ten years ago to provide a lifeline to women who have experienced domestic abuse or social isolation. The organisation holds confidence-building workshops to boost self-awareness, classes such as Crochet in Confidence to relieve stress and anxiety, digital skills training and employment support.
As a lone parent, she has also set about addressing the stigma women like her face, hosting befriending sessions for other mums and helping more than 500 women access housing benefits and childcare support and advice around finance advice and immigration issues. She also started the first African food bank in Greater Manchester, supporting almost 2,000 women and their families across the city.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION: FIGEN MURRAY
Figen’s son Martyn was one of the 22 people murdered in the Manchester Arena bombing. She was determined to live positively in the wake of the 29-year-old’s tragic death. A former counsellor and mother of five, who lives in south Manchester, Figen is now the force behind Martyn’s Law and an important national voice on radicalisation and dialogue.
Since 2019 she has been working to bring about new legislation with the aim of boosting anti-terrorist security measures and preventing future atrocities. Martyn’s Law requires venues with a capacity of more than 100 people to improve security against the threat of terrorism, have a clear plan in place and train staff to government guidelines.
In December, the government announced that Martyn’s Law will be introduced, with legislation to be published this spring. Now a grandmother, Figen also visits schools, colleges and universities to talk about radicalisation, her own experiences and the power of forgiveness. To date, she has spoken to more than 22,000 young people across England, showing how they can positively influence and shape their own world and encouraging acts of kindness.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION: DEBORAH DIXON
Deborah’s son Aaron was only 23 when he passed away in his sleep at home, one of the 12 young people in the UK who die every week from an undetected heart defect.
Following the 2011 tragedy, Deborah was determined to help prevent the same thing happening to other young people, so she set up a memorial fund to raise money for a comprehensive screening programme.
Since 2014, she has raised £500,000, paying for 5,371 people to be screened – of those, 168 had potentially fatal abnormalities. Working with The English Institute of Sport, the fund has also paid for 810 elite athletes to be screened – something which isn’t available on the NHS, and Deborah is now campaigning for the introduction of a national screening programme too.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION: PETER GARSDEN
Peter was a young solicitor working in the criminal justice system when one of his clients, a man with a long criminal record, broke down in tears in his office. He told Peter the appalling story of how he had been abused growing up in children’s homes.
Peter took up the man’s case, and it took over his life. Over the years, more and more victims came forward, until there were 800 claimants. Finally, 15 years after the first victim sat in his office, Peter won £5 million in damages for the victims.
Since then, Peter, 65, has become a national leader in fighting for justice for victims and founded the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers; representing more than 1,000 victims in 25 cases, and establishing guidelines for helping victims through the legal process.
Peter, who has also fostered 18 children with his wife, says: “This line of work is more of a calling than a profession. It is what idealistic law students dream of qualifying to become.
CHILDREN’S CHAMPION: GREG DAVIS
Greg founded United Estates of Wythenshawe in 1996 to tackle gang culture and anti-social behaviour in one of Manchester’s most deprived areas, providing residents with better resources and opportunities. United Estates was founded in the spirit of ‘creative vandalism’.
He says: “We use the potentially negative energy of street gang culture and create pockets of positive community enterprise, owned, led and managed by local people.”
After he was given access to a run-down building by the Methodist Church, he enlisted the help of locals to repair and revitalise it. Today, it is home to a gym, a dance and performing arts space and recording studio, as well as a drop-in centre, café and a Mums Mart community food facility, including a no questions asked food bank.
TSB COMMUNITY HERO: FLORENCE COKE
To her community in Stockport, Florence Coke is simply their Mama Flo. The grandmother of seven, who was born in Jamaica, has spent decades raising funds for schools and local hospitals but she is best known for her Caribbean takeaway shop where as well as her regulars, she makes sure the most vulnerable are fed.
For Mama Flo, food is love. During the pandemic, the 68-year-old came to the community’s aid, providing hundreds of free meals to hospitals, care homes, and schools, as well as NHS staff and key workers.
As the cost of living crisis kicked in, she moved on to providing free meals to scores of hungry school children during holiday time and spent the festive period cooking for local pensioners. Her alarm is set at 4am every day so she can get everything ready.
Her Buxton Road restaurant, Mama Flo’s, with its signature curry goat and brown stew chicken, has been given the thumbs up by famous faces including footballers Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire. For Florence, everyone in the community counts. She says: “When I was a little girl, my dad would make food abundantly. We’d feed all the people in the village.”
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION: MINES ADVISORY GROUP
Disaster and conflict response charity founded in Manchester is the world’s leading awareness and clearance organisation Its work stretches back more than 30 years, clearing deadly landmines and saving lives everywhere from Myanmar and South Sudan to Zimbabwe, Cambodia and Niger. Now Manchester-based charity MAG – Mines Advisory Group – is one of the world’s leading landmine awareness and clearance bodies, and its work is more important than ever.
Founded in 1989 by former British Army engineer Rae McGrath and his brother Lou, the team is currently working in Ukraine, where landmines and cluster munitions are devastating communities, as well as Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones around the world. To date, MAG has helped protect 20 million people by clearing mines in more than 70 countries.
The M.E.N Pride of Manchester Awards with TSB will be available to watch from 15 May, via the official Pride of Britain social media channels: @prideofbritain.
To find out more, visit: www.prideofbritain.com/manchester
