When Sir Lenny Henry presented Paul Stephenson with his Pride of Britain Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, he told him: “It is a well-known saying that to achieve greatness you have to stand on the shoulders of giants. You really are a giant."
Paul was honoured for a lifetime of civil rights campaigning, including the Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963, which led to racist whites-only employment rules being overturned. He also helped to change the law, playing a key role in the first Race Relations Act in 1965.
In 2020, Pride of Britain honoured Holocaust survivor Sir Ben Helfgott. After arriving in Britain as a 15-year-old in 1945, Sir Ben became an Olympian and was instrumental in setting up the Holocaust Survivors ‘45 Aid Society to assist fellow survivors and those in need.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner Dr Paul Stephenson receiving his award from Sir Lenny Henry on stage with wife Joyce and Carol Vorderman (Tim Anderson/Daily Mirror)He also helped establish a national Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK, serving as President of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
Dame Elizabeth Anionwu was open-mouthed with shock when pop icon Janet Jackson came on stage to present her Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Brit 'saw her insides' after being cut open by propeller on luxury diving trip
Dame Elizabeth overcame a brutal childhood and prejudice to become a nurse and transform care for people with sickle cell disease.
She helped set up the UK’s first screening and counselling centre for the disease in 1979 and became the UK’s first sickle cell nurse specialist. She was also involved in setting up the Sickle Cell Society, becoming its patron and co-led a campaign to erect a statue of the nurse Mary Seacole at St. Thomas’ Hospital in 2016.
Fundraising Award
Pride of Britain’s award for fundraising isn’t necessarily for who has raised the most money - although some winners have raised millions of pounds.
The judges also look for uplifting examples of people who will inspire others, and sum up the British people’s spirit of generosity.
Jean Bishop raised £92,000 for Age UK by dressing up in a giant bee costume and rattling a tin on the streets of Hull. The hilarious pensioner was surprised by David Walliams in a matching bee costume of his own.
Jean Bishop was presented with the Pride of Britain award for Fundraising in 2013 by David Walliams - who also dressed as a bee (Daily Mirror)Another sprightly gran, Doris Long, who was 95 when she won in 2009, went into the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest abseiler for her charity stunts.
She had the audience in stitches when she said was nervous about being on stage, adding “I’d rather do 20 abseils than be up here”.
Award presenter James Corden then joked with her, saying: “Most people start abseiling when they’re 18 or 19. What are you going to do next, start drinking cider with your mates in the park, or go backpacking around Thailand?”
- If you know of someone like Paul, who has had an impact on a national or even global scale, you can nominate them for a Lifetime Achievement Award now at
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