Why Pride of Britain is still the most important awards show of the year

Ros Wynne Jones reminisces the past 25 years of the Pride of Britain Awards and the astir inspiring stories.

An bonzer lawsuit happened 25 years agone astatine the Dorchester Hotel successful London – a gathering of the large and the bully sat listening to the stories of ordinary, mundane heroes.

That night, arsenic celebs mixed with beingness boatmen, crab patients with firefighters and royalty with autobus drivers, our Pride of Britain Awards were born.

It was the lone ceremonial that could person honoured 19-year-old Michael Owen for his extremity against Argentina alongside the Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, for warring for bid portion battling a encephalon tumour.

And the lone awards wherever the Spice Girls would not look retired of spot adjacent to the bonzer Doreen and Neville Lawrence – whose dignified run for justness pursuing the execution of their lad Stephen had conscionable led to the damning Macpherson report.

But if determination was ever anyone who astir deserved a Pride of Britain Award it was its architect, Mirror exertion Peter Willis, who died 3 years agone astatine 54.

And this week his woman and sons were honoured with a peculiar grant presented by Simon Cowell.

Peter was the lone idiosyncratic who could person created Pride of Britain. His aureate contacts publication – with everyone from Elton John to Rod Stewart and Cilla Black connected velocity dial – combined with a emotion of the astir quality of stories.

It wasn’t conscionable celebs Peter knew – it was constabulary inspectors, MPs and commercialized national leaders. A regular visitant to Clarence House, helium convinced the aboriginal king to go 1 of the Awards’ firstbackers.

The past Mirror editor, Piers Morgan, had jokingly demanded a Prime Minister, a Queen and a Beatle astatine the archetypal Pride of Britain Awards.

Peter enactment successful a fewer calls and Tony Blair and Queen Noor of Jordan were among those astatine the Dorchester. Then, successful walked Paul McCartney.

Many of those honoured were successful a realm acold beyond celebrity. The database is agelong and distinguished: Sir Nicholas Winton, who rescued 669 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.

The leader firefighters of 9/11. Prof Stephen Hawking and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.

The Hillsborough families, the Grenfell bereaved and survivors, and the Windrush Generation. Then determination was Alan Bates, who fought the Post Office scandal. The cave rescue squad who saved 12 Thai boys and their shot coach.

And Richard Taylor, whose tireless campaigning successful the sanction of murdered lad Damilola earned him a Lifetime Achievement Award.

There were lighter moments excessively with 111-year-old First World War seasoned Henry Allingham’s 20-minute “tribute to the fairer sex” which had to beryllium chopped from the last edit.

James Cordon upstaged by abseiling pensioner Doris Long.

If Peter was the lone writer who could person created the awards, Carol Vorderman is the lone 1 who could person presented it. “Peter and I were the lone ones determination from the precise start,” she told this week’s audience. “And it is due to the fact that of Peter we were there.”

When Peter died I wrote that helium had ne'er truly understood however loved helium was. He would person some loved and hated the lasting ovation astatine this week’s awards.

He was, rather simply, the Pride of Britain.