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BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award

British award for contribution in sport

Summary

British award for contribution in sport

Field	Value
name	BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
presenter	BBC Sports Personality of the Year
country	United Kingdom
year
year2
holder	Jean Paton (2024)
holder_label	Most recent winner

The BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award was an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. Presented from 2003 to 2024, the award was given to the sportsperson who has made a substantive yet unrecognised contribution to sport.

History

The inaugural winner in 2003 was 63-year-old Nobby Woodcock, for "his unstinting work with grassroots football in Wales". Of the fourteen recipients to date, four were chosen for their contributions to football; the other recipients contributed towards boxing, basketball, athletics, swimming, sailing and the Special Olympics. As of 2024, six of the twenty two winners have each been put forward from the BBC East Midlands region, four from the BBC South region and two from the BBC East and BBC Scotland regions. The other winners came from the BBC London, BBC North West, BBC Northern Ireland, BBC West, BBC West Midlands and BBC Wales regions. The most recent award was presented in 2024 to Jean Paton.

Nomination procedure

Sportspeople are nominated by the public, and must be aged 16 years or over on 1 January that year. Nominees may not put themselves forward or be nominated by a member of their immediate family. A nominee must actively help others participate in a sport at any level on a voluntary basis. The work they do must not be part of their job or take part within their places of work, and they must not be a participant in the sporting group they are helping. Previous winners of the award are ineligible for nomination. One winner is selected from each of the twelve BBC English Regions, and the three national regions: BBC Scotland, BBC Wales, and BBC Northern Ireland. A judging panel then chooses the Unsung Hero winner from the fifteen regional winners.

Winners

By year

Year	Nationality	Winner	Location	BBC Region	Sport	Rationale	Note	Joe & Maggie Forber	Jill Stidever
2003	WAL		BBC Wales	Football	for "his unstinting work with grassroots football in Wales".
2004	ENG		BBC London	Football	for his work with Bethwin Football Club, a club he founded and funded personally.
2005	ENG	Isle of Wight	BBC South	Swimming	url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/4520966.stm	title=Swimming coach secures BBC prize	date=12 December 2005	publisher=BBC News	access-date=23 January 2009}}
2006	ENG		BBC West Midlands	Special Olympics	for spending nearly 30 years organising Special Olympics for thousands of people with learning difficulties in North Shropshire.
2007	ENG		BBC South	Football	for over 40 years of work with Bardwell FC, a community football team that she founded in 1964.
2008	ENG		BBC South	Boxing	for setting up three boxing clubs, and campaigning for a permanent home for the Dorchester Amateur Boxing Club.
2009	ENG		BBC East	Swimming	url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/8409171.stm	title=Swimming teacher Doreen Adcock wins BBC Unsung award	date=13 December 2009	publisher=BBC Sport	access-date=14 December 2009}}
2010	ENG	Bedfordshire	BBC East	Basketball	for providing children of differing abilities coaching in basketball.
2011	SCO	Scotland	BBC Scotland	Athletics	for providing coaching to disabled athletes.
2012	ENG	Leicester	BBC East Midlands	Various	for transforming a derelict Leicestershire sports ground into a popular community facility for tennis, squash, association football, bowls and dance.
2013	ENG	Manchester	BBC North West	Basketball	recognised regionally for their hard work at the Amaechi Basketball Centre in Whalley Range.
2014	ENG	Hinckley, Leicestershire	BBC East Midlands	Swimming	for nearly 60 years' work helping children with special needs learn to swim.
2015	NIR	Belfast	BBC Northern Ireland	Football	founded St James' Swifts F.C. five years ago with the aim of helping to keep young people off the streets in a deprived part of his native city.
2016	ENG	Nottingham	BBC East Midlands	Boxing	for providing free boxing classes to hundreds of young people at his boxing school.
2017	ENG	Hinckley and Bosworth, Leicester	BBC East Midlands	Various	for helping the elderly get involved in sport and leading running groups encouraging people of all ages to get active.
2018	SCO	Inverness	BBC Scotland	Swimming	overcame mental health issues to inspire others to do the same and find a better place through swimming.
2019	ENG	Bulwell, Nottingham	BBC East Midlands	Various	runs the community project 'Helping Kids Achieve' in Bulwell in Nottingham, one of the most deprived areas in the city.
2020	NZL
ENG	East Grinstead, West Sussex	BBC South East	Rugby	led a resurgence in popularity at the East Grinstead Rugby Club after becoming head coach. Awarded posthumously.
2021	ENG	Hull	BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire	Various	founded a fitness club for those experiencing loss after losing her husband to cancer.
2022	ENG	Bristol	BBC West	Football	founded Park Knowle FC in one of Bristol's most deprived areas, open to players of all ages and ability.
2023	ENG	Sheffield	BBC Yorkshire	Various	founded Sheffield Caribbean Sports Club to provide sporting opportunities for ethnic minorities and encourage community cohesion
2024	ENG	Lymington, Hampshire	BBC South	Sailing	for her decades of work as a volunteer and instructor at Salterns Sailing Club in Lymington

By region

This table lists the total number of awards won by the BBC Region through which the recipient qualified for the award.

Nationality	Number of wins	BBC East Midlands	BBC South	BBC East	BBC Scotland	BBC London	BBC North West	BBC Northern Ireland	BBC South East	BBC Wales	BBC West	BBC West Midlands	BBC Yorkshire	BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
6
4
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

By sport

This table lists the total number of awards won by the sport the recipient contributed towards.

Sport of contribution	Number of wins	Football	Swimming	Basketball	Boxing	Athletics	Rugby	Sailing	Special Olympics	Various
4
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
5

References

General

Specific

References

(28 August 2007). "Nominate your BBC Sports Unsung Hero". BBC.
(14 December 2003). "Nobby named unsung hero". [[BBC Sport]].
(18 November 2008). "Sports Personality voting & judging: Terms & conditions". [[BBC Sport]].
(8 December 2003). "Cooke wins BBC honour". [[BBC Sport]].
(14 December 2003). "Nobby named unsung hero". [[BBC Sport]].
Norton, Charlie. (15 December 2003). "Wilkinson and Redgrave scoop top BBC awards". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
"BBC London Sports Awards – Unsung Heroes 2005". [[Sport England]].
(12 December 2004). "BBC Sports Personality: The winners". [[BBC Sport]].
White, Jim. (13 January 2007). "Unsung hero restoring order to chaotic lives". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
(12 December 2005). "Swimming coach secures BBC prize". [[BBC News]].
(15 December 2005). "Let's follow Trevor's example to save our pools.". AccessMyLibrary.
"Unsung hero wins". [[Tesco]].
(11 December 2006). "Val's a winner". BBC Shropshire.
Corrigan, James. (11 December 2006). "Phillips is surprise winner of top Sports Personality award". [[Independent News & Media]].
(10 September 2008). "Unsung Hero 2008". BBC.
(9 December 2007). "Unsung sporting heroes". [[BBC Sport]].
(December 2007). "Bardwell football founder named unsung hero". [[BBC Sport]].
(3 December 2008). "BBC nomination is a 'fitting tribute' for Geyser". [[Newsquest]].
(14 December 2008). "Boxing club hero wins Unsung 2008". [[BBC Sport]].
(16 December 2008). "Geyser's accolade can inspire next generation". [[Newsquest]].
"Edwards is East Sports Personality 2009". [[BBC East]].
(13 December 2009). "Swimming teacher Doreen Adcock wins BBC Unsung award". [[BBC Sport]].
(14 December 2010). "BBC East Sports Unsung Hero 2010 winner announced". [[BBC Sport]].
(20 December 2010). "David Beckham sheds tear on getting Life prize". [[The Belfast Telegraph]].
(19 December 2010). "Basketball coach wins BBC award". [[BBC Sport]].
(30 November 2011). "BBC Scotland Sports Unsung Hero 2011 winners announced". BBC News.
Holehouse, Matthew. (22 December 2011). "Mark Cavendish named BBC Sports Personality of the Year". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
"BBC Sport – Sports Personality of the Year 2011: Scots duo win Unsung Hero award". BBC Sport.
(8 December 2012). "Sue and Jim Houghton win East Midlands Unsung Hero Award". [[BBC Sport]].
(16 December 2012). "BBC Sports Personality of the Year in pictures". [[MSN]].
"BBC Sport – Sports Personality of the Year 2012: Sports Personality: Sue & Jim Houghton win Unsung Hero Award". BBC Sport.
(15 December 2013). "Basketball-loving couple earn SPOTY acclaim as Unsung Heroes". Manchester Evening News.
"BBC Unsung Hero: Jill Stidever shocked by award". BBC Sport.
(14 December 2014). "Sports Personality: Swimming coach named Unsung Hero". BBC Sport.
"Belfast football coach Lindsay named NI Unsung Hero". BBC Sport.
(20 December 2015). "Sports Personality: Damien Lindsay wins BBC Unsung Hero". BBC Sport.
"BBC Unsung Hero 2016: Nottingham boxing coach Marcellus Baz wins East Midlands award". BBC Sport.
(18 December 2016). "Sports Personality 2016: Marcellus Baz wins BBC Unsung Hero award". BBC Sport.
"BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero 2017: Denise Larrad wins East Midlands award". BBC Sport.
(17 December 2017). "BBC Sports Personality 2017: Denise Larrad wins BBC Unsung Hero award". BBC Sport.
"'Volunteering allowed me to accept myself" – Meet BBC Scotland's Unsung Hero Kirsty Ewen". BBC Sport.
(16 December 2018). "Get Inspired Unsung Hero 2018: Kirsty Ewen wins award". BBC Sport.
(15 December 2019). "Keiren Thompson wins Unsung Hero Award". BBC Sport.
(20 December 2020). "Sgt Matt Ratana named Unsung Hero winner at Sports Personality of the Year 2020". BBC Sport.
(19 December 2021). "Sports Personality 2021: Fitness club founder Sam Barlow named Unsung Hero 2021".
(21 December 2022). "Sports Personality of the Year: Mike Alden honoured with Unsung Hero award". BBC Sport.
"Yorkshire's Des Smith wins Unsung Hero award". BBC Sport.
"Sailing supergran takes home BBC Unsung Hero award".
(17 December 2024). "Sports Personality of the Year 2024: Jean Paton wins Unsung Hero award".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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