Pride of Britain 2021: Meet Regional Fundraiser of the Year finalist Jason Baird
Jason Baird shares his fundraising story with Zoe Muldoon.
It is that time of year again where we celebrate those from our communities who have given their time to raise thousands of pounds to help others.
We've been searching for the Granada Reports Pride of Britain Regional Fundraiser of the Year, and have whittled it down to four outstanding finalists.
Jason Baird, known to many in his local community as 'Stockport Spiderman' has raised smiles since the first lockdown in 2020, by dressing up as Spiderman and entertaining children who were stuck in the house.
It started as simply something to do with his friend Andrew, but Jason began setting himself challenges like running 3 marathons in 24 hours.
Since last March, over £70,000 has been raised for NHS charities and youth suicide prevention charity Papyrus.
Jason was motivated to raise money for Papyrus because his friend tragically took his own life at the start of the first lockdown.
Jason said: "I set up a JustGiving page for the NHS and set a target of £5,000, within a couple of days we had an anonymous donation of £25,000. By the end of the first lockdown we had raised over £50,000 for NHS charities."
His biggest challenge? Running three marathons in 24 hours.
Jason says it feels extremely surreal to be nominated for a Pride of Britain award and to "just be nominated" is a "massive achievement".
What is the Pride of Britain?
Pride of Britain Awards celebrate the achievements of truly remarkable people who make our world a better place.
Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country. Their achievements are awe-inspiring and a lesson to us all. They say they are ordinary people, but their acts are truly extraordinary.Since the first Pride of Britain in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbiz, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.
Hosted by Carol Vorderman, the Awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.