The winners of The Sun’s Who Cares Wins Health Awards 2021 have been revealed at a star-studded ceremony at The Roundhouse, hosted by Davina McCall and attended by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and David Beckham.

The Sun’s Who Cares Wins awards, which honours those across the health and social care sector who go above and beyond for their patients or causes, proved an emotional evening.

Some of Britain’s best-loved charity campaigners and famous faces were on hand to present the awards: including Kate Garraway, Chris Evans, Sir Trevor McDonald, Gary Lineker, David Beckham, and Penny Lancaster. 

When presenting the 999 hero award, HRH The Duke of Cambridge said: “Every day our emergency services deal with high-pressured, challenging situations.

"When most of us would, quite naturally, turn away and seek safety, our emergency responders rise to the occasion - running straight towards the danger to provide vital and often life-saving support.

"Very modestly, they will tell you that this does not make them heroes, and it is all done in the name of duty.

"But sometimes a situation will occur that tests the resolve of even the most experienced responder.

"In times like these, they must face their deepest fears and find the most astonishing level of courage to overcome the obstacles in front of them. And that is truly heroic.

"The winners of this award faced just such a situation, but I am delighted to say they survived and are here this evening."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said: “I owe my life to the NHS as many of us do. In our toughest times for this country in recent memory, it's been the pride of our country. Our NHS was there for all of us. And for every minute of every hour of every day our doctors, nurses, paramedics, care home workers, cleaners, porters and so many more, risked their lives helping others. And some of them tragically lost their lives, and we owe them all an extraordinary debt. So we're here tonight to say the most heartfelt thank you to the men and women of the NHS for their courage, their compassion, and their wonderful care.

I'm very grateful to The Sun and Channel 4 for giving our whole country this special evening to express our gratitude and admiration.

Just as the NHS has looked after us, we will look after the NHS. Last week we announced a huge catchup programme, the biggest in history. 36 billion going into funding the repair the damage covid has done and fix the long standing problems of social care at the same time.

The single best way that everyone of us can help to protect the NHS is to get vaccinated. I want to thank the tens of thousands, including the Jabs Army volunteers recruited by the Sun, who have helped to administer 92million saving countless lives.

One of the reasons the UK has been able to carry out the most successful vaccination programme in the world, is the brilliant work of our scientists. It's absolutely fitting that the final award tonight is the groundbreaking discovery award. As anyone who has worked in scientific research will tell you the big breakthroughs and discoveries usually take years and years, but faced with the greatest challenge of our times our fantastic scientists rose to it, and rewrote the rulebook, and none more so than the Oxford Covid19 Vaccine team.”

The Sun editor-in-chief Victoria Newton said: “I want to send a massive thank you to all of The Sun’s Who Care Wins nominees and winners, for what they have done for all of us over this challenging year. They have all gone above the call of duty to keep us safe, and all of them would have been worthy winners tonight. We owe all of them so very much. 

Thank you as well to NHS Charities Together and Channel 4 for partnering with us on Who Cares Wins awards, and all of the amazing award presenters tonight for supporting and uplifting our healthcare heroes.” 

Ellie Orton, NHS Charities Together CEO, said: “It’s a joy to see such inspiring people getting public recognition for what they have done for all of us since the pandemic started. We are incredibly grateful to The Duke for supporting this amazing evening and helping to raise awareness of the incredible role of NHS staff over the year.

“NHS staff and volunteers have been through so much and it’s important that we remember their contribution and continue to be there for them over the coming months and years as the NHS recovers from the most challenging time it has faced.

“Thanks to the support of the public we have been able to fund hundreds of projects for the NHS workforce over the last year, including counselling and other emotional and practical support.”

The awards were pioneered in 2017 by The Sun’s late Health Editor Christina Newbury, who died suddenly aged 31. The Christina Newbury Memorial Award is named in her honour.

The Sun's Who Cares Wins was broadcast on Channel 4 at 7.30pm Sunday 19th September, and available on All 4

The Sun’s Who Cares Wins winners 2021

Best Doctor

Dr Waheed Arian

Warrington

Waheed was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and spent his childhood in the middle of the Soviet conflict. After he and his family fled to a refugee camp in Pakistan, Arian suffered a potentially fatal combination of malnutrition, malaria and TB. It was here Arian developed the dream of becoming a doctor. After returning to Kabul, Arian’s family sent him to the UK to fulfil his dream. Supporting himself with jobs as a cleaner and shop worker he studied at several colleges in the evening and gained the A Levels required to study medicine at Cambridge University. He now runs Arian Teleheal, a charity which unites UK doctors with medics in war zones including Syria and Afghanistan.  

Presented by David Beckham 

Best Midwife

Angela Chamberlain

Walsall, West Midlands

Nominated by Lauren McLean who was flying home from a sunshine break to Tenerife and went into labour on a Ryanair jet. Angela jumped into action and helped to deliver little Oscar, now one, who was born at just 3lb7oz. Lauren is convinced Angela’s quick thinking saved both their lives.

Presented by Steph McGovern and Penny Lancaster

The Christina Newbury Memorial Award

Jab’s Army volunteers

The Sun’s Jabs Army campaign set out to recruit 50,000 volunteers to help the NHS roll out the most ambitious vaccine programme in British history, and within three weeks it had smashed its target, and it now has over 60,000 volunteers and has been praised by the NHS, PM Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. A new narrative of vaccine hesitancy was emerging in parts of society so the campaign also set out to correct mistruths, debunk myths and encourage the country to get jabbed.

A campaign that The Sun’s late health editor would have no doubt been involved with, The Christina Newbury Memorial award is dedicated this year to all of the Sun’s Jabs Army volunteers who have given up their time to help the country get back on its feet. 

Unsung Hero

Barney Jones

Bury St Edmunds

Barney fixes ambulances for the East of England Ambulance, and has had only one day off during lockdown to make sure ambulances are always able to go out on the road. Working 14 hours a day, seven days a week getting up at 4.30am every day, it's his way of saving lives. He let other members of his team who were shielding for themselves or a relative go home and he picked all the work. Nominated by paramedic Jemma Varela who says Barney’s work has helped them save lives. 

Presented by Fleur East and Vernon Kay 

Best Nurse

Jackie Brunton

Blackpool

Nominated by Susan Ayrton, whose ex-Marine father was hospitalised with Covid on March 22. The pair met on the night she found out her father was to be taken off his ventilator. It was the day the health secretary announced no family visits would be allowed in hospitals and it was also Jackie Brunton’s first day in her new role as a bereavement nurse, but she arranged Susan and her father to FaceTime so he could see his beloved daughter in his final hours. She also lobbied her hospital to ensure that funding was found to ensure iPads and a communication system was installed for future families and created a bereavement suite at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Presented by Kate Garraway

Best Team

Court House Retirement Home

Cheddar, Somerset

Chris Dando and a team of 12 employees moved into the care home at the start of lockdown and didn’t see their families for 12 weeks, and became one of few care homes in the UK not to have lost a single resident to Covid. Chris moved in again in January for six weeks until all residents had received their jabs. Nominated by Paul Fineran, whose mum is in the home.  

Presented by Gary Lineker

999 Hero

Deena Evans and Mick Hipgrave

Wolverhampton 

Paramedic Deena was stabbed in the chest on a 999-call out. Deena, a mum of three, nearly died after a patient lunged at her with two knives. She says she wouldn’t be alive if colleague Michael hadn’t stepped in. He threw himself between them, taking a blade to his neck. She has since struggled with PTSD but has never considered abandoning her colleagues on the front line. Attacker Martyn Smith has been jailed for nine years. The pair have been nominated by senior operations manager Richard Barrett who was called to attend and treat the pair after the attack.

Presented by HRH The Duke of Cambridge

Caroline Flack Mental Health Hero

Charmaine George

Redruth, Cornwall

Charmaine lost her son Ewan, 18, after taking his life in May 2020. With the support of The Good Grief Trust, Charmaine has been running pop up cafes to help others who have been bereaved. She said a lot of the support groups out there when you lose a loved one are very depressing and she wanted to do something more positive to remember her son. 

Presented by Christine Flack 

Ultimate Lifesaver

Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole

Bermondsey, South London

Brave hero ‘Jimi' died after diving into the River Thames to save a woman back in April. His uncle Olumide Wole Maderiola - who lost his own son Malcolm to knife crime - nominated Jimi for the award, saying his "bravery and selfless actions" should be recognised.

Presented by Sir Trevor McDonald

Best Health Charity

Park Lane Stables, London 

The London-based Riding for the Disabled Association and Pony Club centre started a crowdfunder to buy its Teddington base when it was hit by a Covid financial crisis last year. Run by Natalie O’Rourke, it reached its target of £1 million on February 18 thanks to donations from thousands of individuals. The stables provide therapy rides for everyone from children with autism, people with disabilities and adults with severe mental health issues. During the pandemic it launched a ‘Tiny Pony at Your Window’ service so that those most in need could get a boost from a visit from a NHS-branded pony. Nominated by Nina Bradburn whose 16-year-old daughter Olivia has been a regular volunteer. Olivia was born with liver disease and had a liver transplant at just seven months old and finds being around the ponies always distracts her from any health issues.  

Presented by Chris Evans

The National Lottery's Local Health Hero

Annie Aris

Saffron Walden

Annie co-founded The Laughter Specialists in 2007 - with National Lottery funding - to help make a real difference to children living with illnesses or disabilities.

The dedicated charity supports children across southeast England by providing laughter therapy in hospitals, schools, hospices as well as one to one sessions in families’ homes. 

For Annie, bringing laughter to young children going through treatment or living with disabilities not only helps brighten up their day, but supports their families too. 

Presented by CEO of The National Lottery's operator, Nigel Railton and Kadeena Cox

Young Hero

Carmela Chillery-Watson, 6

Wiltshire

Carmela is an incredible six year-old fundraiser who has a life-limiting muscle-wasting condition called LMNA-CMD. Despite the excruciating pain and discomfort she goes through daily, Carmela undertakes gruelling challenges and has raised more than £100,,000 for the charity MDUK - and always in her Wonder Woman outfit. Nominated by actress Lilly Aspell, who plays a young Diana in the Gal Gadot Hollywood blockbuster. 

Presented by Tyrone Mings and Lauren Steadman

Groundbreaking Pioneer or Discovery:

Oxford Vaccine team

Without the genius and dedication of the team at Oxford we could still be stuck in lockdown with no obvious route of escape. Easy to store and affordable, the vaccine they created has been dubbed the “workhorse” vaccine for helping to jab the world. The dedicated team behind it worked 60 hour weeks at the height of its research with six different lab teams all toiling away behind the scenes.

Presented by Prime Minister Boris Johnson