Pride of Britain Awards

The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual event in the United Kingdom, honouring British people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challenging situations. The awards were founded by Peter Willis, an associate editor of the Daily Mirror, under the editorship of Piers Morgan. The first Pride of Britain Awards were held at the Dorchester Hotel, Mayfair, London in May 1999. The awards are televised on ITV and hosted by Carol Vorderman. The judging panel is made up of celebrities and well-known figures from a range of backgrounds, and has included multiple appearances by Simon Cowell, Richard Branson, Fiona Phillips, Miriam Stoppard, Sir John Stevens, Sir Magdi Yacoub, Richard Wallace, Eamonn Holmes and Ms. Dynamite, chaired from 1999 to 2004 by Piers Morgan and from 2005 to 2006 by Peter Willis. The awards are organised in association with the Daily Mirror, Lidl, ITV, Daybreak and The Prince's Trust. Winners of the Pride of Britain Lifetime Achievement Award have included; Peter Benenson, founder of the human rights organisation Amnesty International, Chad Varah, founder of the charity group the Samaritans, Alec Jeffreys, who pioneered DNA fingerprinting, and Nicholas Winton, who saved many Jewish children from the Holocaust.