Marcus Rashford gets 'special recognition' at Pride of Britain Awards

Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford has been honoured alongside other people from Greater Manchester who've made a real difference in a difficult year.

This year’s Pride of Britain Awards will acknowledge a year of extraordinary challenges, and the individuals who have gone above and beyond to help others.

HRH Prince Charles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and David Beckham OBE will be taking part in the awards, broadcast on November 1st on ITV1.

The winners from Manchester:

Dena Murphy - TSB Community Spirit

92 year old Dena uses her love of gardening to help criminals learn new skills and repay their debt to society. She does her work from her allotment in New Moston. She has helped 300 ex-offender’s complete community service orders by teaching them allotment gardening. She is also the driving force behind the charity Nephra Good Neighbours which aims to reduce isolation and loneliness in older people. Along with her team they also run a takeaway service delivering meals to elderly people who are housebound.

Emmie Narayn-Nicholas - Child of Courage

Emmie was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2017 and spent 100 nights at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital over six months. While in hospital, Emmie saw how patients’ families struggled with being away from home at the most stressful time of their lives. For low income families, the cost of a takeaway and canteen meals was also a challenge. She came up with the idea of making wholesome, home-cooked meals for the parents and families of other young patients.

In June 2018, she opened Emmie’s Kitchen at the Ronald McDonald House next to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Once a month up to 200 people are treated to a free three-course dinner and some welcome respite from the wards. Emmie’s Kitchen is now a registered charity.

Marcus Rashford - Special Recognition

The Manchester United and England footballer has won a Pride of Britain Special Recognition award for his campaign to stop children going hungry.

The 22 year old footballer dedicated his time in lockdown to fight on behalf of the 200,000 disadvantaged children on free school meals, and forced Boris Johnson into a u-turn over plans to end support over the summer. Marcus, who relied on free school dinners when he was growing up in Manchester, also helped to raise £20m to feed another three million people and is continuing to provide a voice for under-privileged families.