Full list of Pride of Manchester Awards 2020 winners announced

The Pride of Manchester Awards will look a little different this year due to Covid restrictions.

The ceremony, in partnership with TSB, will still go ahead on Thursday, and will premiere live from Facebook so viewers can tune in and watch their unsung heroes receive awards for their outstanding bravery.

There will be no shortage of famous faces in the show, hosted by Kym Marsh, with everyone from Little Mix to Olly Murs celebrating the winners - within social distancing and lockdown rules of course.

Here's a look at the full list of winners who have shown strength and courage to make the world a better place...

Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford was handed the award for Special Recognition after setting up a campaign to give free school meals to children from disadvantaged backgrounds across the nation.

The star put his hard work into getting the go-ahead during the pandemic, which saw schools close with many children missing out on their regular free school meals, but Rashford made sure this would not be the case.

He raised a staggering £20million for the charity providing free meals for children and drove a huge Government U-turn.

Meanwhile, former detective constable Maggie Oliver, 64, who is from Altrincham in Cheshire, was also recognised for her work.

She was the whistleblower who exposed the catastrophic failures which Greater Manchester Police take to protect child victims of grooming gangs.

Maggie worked on the Operation Augusta case in 2004 - a widespread investigation which delved into a suspected grooming group of older men, based in Rusholme.

During her time as a detective constable, she gained the trust of the girls involved, many of whom were in care and helped to identify 97 potential suspects and 26 victims.

A year after she began working on the case, Maggie took compassionate care to look after her terminally ill husband Norman.

The investigation was dropped shortly after she left due to concerns from senior officers about the costs.

However eight of the suspects went on to commit further serious sexual offences, including rape.

Later in 2011, Maggie left the police in protest at the handling of the Rochdale grooming trial and what she saw was the betrayal of a key witness whose trust she had gained.

After this, Maggie became an outspoken critic of the authorities and insisted they had covered up the full extent of grooming and abuse and failed to protect children.

In January this year, she was vindicated by a damning independent review which found police and social services knew girls were being abused but failed to protect them.

Dr Gerry O'Shea, 56, who is from Ancoats in Manchester, opened his surgery doors to treat the increasing numbers of homeless people in the region.

He won a Special Recognition Award for providing care for the homeless as well as their usual patients.

He works alongside his colleague Dr Shaun Jackson and six other doctors at the bustling Urban Village medical practice.

The surgery offers services to around 750 homeless patients throughout the week, which includes a weekly drop-in clinic every Wednesday.

Dr Gerry went above and beyond to help the homeless, who do not usually have access to a GP or medical care because they don't have a fixed address.

Homeless people visited Gerry's practice and were told to use the address of the practice to seek the care they need.

NHS staff working across Manchester were handed a huge recognition of achievement and given the award for working tirelessly on the frontline throughout the coronavirus pandemic to help treat those in need.

Luchia Fitzgerald, 72, won the Lifetime Achievement Award as a campaigner for LGBT and women's rights in Manchester.

She is still fighting for the rights of others after 60 years.

Luchia arrived in the city from her native Ireland as a teenager in 1961 after she fled an abusive upbringing with her grandmother.

Luchia found herself living on the streets in Manchester and after a run in with the police was sent for a lobotomy to ‘cure’ her sexuality.

After managing to escape she took refuge in the New Union Hotel, where older lesbians took her under her wing.

She met Angela Cooper and after a brief relationship, the pair formed a friendship and campaigning partnership that thrives to this day.

Their early activism involved painting 'lesbians are everywhere' in giant yellow letters across town, but they also helped provide pregnancy testing and helplines for women who had suffered domestic violence or rape.

Luchia and Angela took over an empty property and opened the first women's refuge outside of London.

They also established a radical printing press, played in a rock band called the Northern Women's Liberation Band and led protests against clause 28 by organising a 20,000 strong march through Manchester.

Luchia is now chair of Irwell Valley Homes residents' group and she advocates for the LGBT community and in particular for older LGBT people.

Isabella Hibbert, from Oldham, was just four years old when she dialed 999 after finding her mum Chelsea, 27, unconscious on the kitchen floor.

She was handed the Child of Courage Award for managing to unlock her mum's phone before calling for an ambulance.

Isabella, who is now six, gave the call handler her address so they could send help straight away.

The youngster could clearly answer question from the caller who asked "is your mummy breathing?" and "is your mummy awake?"

Isabella bravely dragged her little chair from the living room to the front door and unlocked it for the paramedics.

She rang her nana on her mum's phone to tell her what happened.

Chelsea was later taken to hospital and has made a full recovery, and credits her daughter's love of ambulance programmes for her response.

The mum and daughter duo never had a conversation about what to do in that situation.

Youngster Joseph Hibbert has been fundraising for Royal Manchester Children's Hospital ever since he was three - despite having never been a patient there.

The 10-year-old is hoping to make the world a better place and has raised more than £32,000 for the hospital's charity.

He hopes to add another £10,000 by climbing Kinder Scout in the Peak District later this year.

He began fundraising when he was three after he saw a video about the hospital and decided to take part in a mini run, completing a total of 1500m in Manchester's Heaton Park.

He then decided to run 5k before he was five and managed to raise more than £3,000 for the hospital charity.

Unsung hero Katie Holmes has cerebral palsy - but refuses to let her condition define her.

Her condition was caused by a bleed on the brain when she was born prematurely at 28 weeks.

Since then she has had to undergo five major operations to help her walk and has metal rods in her legs and uses sticks for support.

However Katie has raised money to help others, and is determined to raise more.

Katie has taken on several challenges including the Great Manchester Run to help pay for her ongoing physiotherapy.

This year she is running 2k to raise funds for the Stockport cerebral Palsy Society.

Last year Katie decided to write a blog about her life with cerebral palsy and created an Instagram account.

She took part in a fashion show after a designer got in touch, and hit the catwalk with bright glittery sticks.

Brave Katie was such a hit that she took part in more shows in London and photos of her have appeared in New York's Times Square.

Paul Redfern is a biker from Hyde in Cheshire who leads a group of lifesaving volunteers on two wheels who deliver vital blood supplied where most urgently needed.

The 50-year-old is the founder of Blood Bikes Manchester - a volunteer-led organisation that helps save thousands of lives across the North West by transporting blood, plasma, platelets, vaccines and breast milk to nearly every hospital in the region.

They operate mostly at night, at weekends and through the holidays, with the service provided completely free of charge by the volunteers.

Last year, Blood Bikes Manchester estimated they saved local NHS and hospice services over £340,000 after completing 18 emergency runs, 564 urgent runs and 680 non urgent and routine sample runs.

It means a lot to Paul, was involved in a serious motorbike accident aged 18 and lost his right leg.

His life was saved by an emergency blood transfusion.

DJ and Elvis impersonator Jim Nicholas, 73, raised more than £200,000 for Francis House Children's Hospice.

Pensioner Jim, who worked as head gardener for the Bishop of Salford, has been performing in pubs and clubs for more than half a century.

Over the past 25 years he has put out a collection box during his shows at hundreds of venues across Manchester and beyond.

His delighted audiences have donated over £200,000.

At one of his shows he performed for a Cliff Richard fan club in Birmingham, and his fans threw in cash donations.

Francis House supports more than 500 families of children and young people with life-limiting conditions from across Greater Manchester.

*The MEN Pride of Manchester Awards, in partnership with TSB, will premiere on Facebook Live at 7pm on Thursday.