Pride of St Helens Awards 2022 - see shortlist of nominees

Once again your St Helens Star and the Steve Prescott Foundation are looking to recognise our town’s amazing people and organisations.

This year, Saints’ Totally Wicked Stadium will again be turned into the glittering venue for the awards night.

It will be the tenth time the event has been held, since the inaugural ceremony in 2012.

Sponsorship from local businesses and organisations ensures the event goes ahead.

Earlier this year, we called on our readers to come forward with the stories of heroism, courage, brilliance and achievement from over the past year.

Inside a special supplement in this week's St Helens Star organisations and individuals that reflect those themes are shortlisted in the various categories. These will be published online over the next week.

A panel of judges reviewed the nominations before a shortlist was drawn up for each category.

Among those shortlisted are the singer Jacqui Abbott, Britain's Got Talent finalist Jamie Leahey, former Saints coach Kristian Woolf, mental health organisation St Helens Mind and cricketer Ellie Threlkeld.

A special Making a Difference Award will be given to the family of Violet-Grace Youens following the Violet's Law campaign that changed dangerous driving sentencing laws.

• See full list of shortlisted nominees below

Arts Award, sponsored by Imperial Quarter

Jack Bennett

The Ks 

Jamie Leahey 

Building Back Award, sponsored by HMS Housing 

Ian Pitts 

St Helens Bookstop 

Thatto Heath Crusaders

Charity Champion, sponsored by Assured Life

Emily Andrew

David Howarth

Gary Ward

Child of Courage, sponsored by Lanny Man

Jake Cathcart 

Ferne Disbury

Community Impact, sponsored by Accord Wills

Rotary St Helens

Think Fast Academy

Wonderland Community Centre

Courage Award, sponsored by Paramount Digital

Dan Parr

Karen Rigby 

Andy Reid

Lifetime Achievement, sponsored by Toast Cafe

To be revealed on the night    

Pride of Place, sponsored by Swindells Roofing

Friends of St Helens Cemetery

Portico Vine Rugby Club

North West Miners Heritage

Sportsperson of the Year, sponsored by Saints RLFC

Liam Burbridge 

Jonny Lomax

Ellie Threlkeld 

Unsung Hero, sponsored by Handepay

Tom Glynn

Flo Shuker

David Lane

Young Sportsperson, sponsored by St Helens Council

James Eden

Lewis Shaw

Bobby Birkett

Making A Difference Award, sponsored by JC Kitchens

Violet-Grace's Law

Pride of St Helens Award, sponsored by Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group

Jacqui Abbott

St Helens Mind

Kristian Woolf

St Helens Star (Image: St Helens Star)

Martin Blondel, general manager of the SPF, said: “Our mission – and what Steve Prescott wanted in 2012 when the awards were founded – was to create a truly spectacular celebration of what is best about St Helens and to raise aspiration and self belief among people across the borough.

“Life continues to be challenging, with the cost of living crisis following on the back of the pandemic, so it’s all the more important that we recognise those who are making a difference and making us proud.

Andrew Kilmurray, editor of the St Helens Star, added: “Stories of courage, talent, generosity, achievement and efforts against the odds are the essence of these awards, which we are delighted to say have now been running for a decade.

“Over the past year the Star has again featured stories of success, courage, kindness and achievement that have inspired our readers – and many of those were recognised through nominations.

“It saddens me on occasions to hear people say dismissively ‘what is there to be proud about in St Helens?’, when in reality there is so much to admire – including many achievements that have come despite the odds being against us.

“We have a rich seam of talent – people who live in the St Helens borough or who have grown up here and then spread their wings to achieve extraordinary things. We’ve seen plenty of examples of those this year - 2022 truly has seen exceptional levels of achievement."