Homo Heroes - The Results

A packed gathering for the 2014 Homo Heroes awards were treated to an evening of entertainment,insight,specially produced videos and of course the awards themselves.
Hosted by Paul Martin,the evening enjoyed several speakers who each talked about the various aspects of the 50th Anniversary of the modern LGBT rights movement,which started in Manchester years before Stonewall.
Comedienne Kerry Lee  provided the lighter part of events and many who officiated spoke of the importance of Community in these difficult times for LGBT.
The Radisson courtesy of sponsor Barclays,provided excellent food and drink.

Homo Heroes 2014: Winners Announced

8 October 2014 - Leading charity The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (The LGF) have announced the winners of their annual Homo Heroes Awards, supported by Barclays, with 'heroes' including The Campaign For Homosexual Equality, North West Ambulance Service and LGBT community volunteer Jenny-Anne Bishop.

The LGF’s fourth annual Homo Heroes Awards recognises individuals, groups and organisations that have made a difference to the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual and trans* (LGB&T) people in the past year. There were over 400 nominations across 9 categories and over 7,000 individual votes were received from across the UK and beyond!

The nominees and winners were voted for by the public with the winners of each category being announced at a ceremony last night, on Tuesday 7th October, at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel in Manchester.  The winners in each of the 10 categories are:

Homo Hero - Community Champion of the year Vivien Walsh From one of the nominations: "Vivien has fought hard on behalf of the lesbian asylum seekers who are part of the Manchester Lesbian and Gay chorus. Going above and beyond her role as Soprano representative, Vivien devoted a great amount of time and resources in fighting for and ultimately securing the release of Jacqueline Nantumbwe from the notorious Yarls Wood centre for the second time, effectively blocking Jacqueline's deportation to Uganda where her life would be under considerable threat. "

Homo Hero - Business of the year
Serenity Security Solutions
Serenity Security was created by two LGB&T directors who wanted to shatter the stereotype of the old-school ‘bouncer’ and believe that training and customer service are paramount in the industry. We believe the key to our success is matching the right kind of staff with each individual venue and we are the only door company in the Northwest to employ a large percentage of LGB&T staff. Supporting charities, they are proactively involved in promoting Manchester’s ‘Gay Village’ and supply security staff to a number of venues within it as well as supplying venues and events across the rest of Manchester and the UK.

Homo Hero - Lesbian, gay or bisexual role model of the year Dave Armstrong From one of the nominations: "As well as being a successful gay businessman and father, Dave has spent the last 8 years supporting Frank Mugisha's campaign successfully against the anti-gay bill in Uganda, which has now been annulled, and helped to establish Icebreakers Uganda after volunteering for Icebreakers Manchester for 10 years. In addition he is a trustee for FOMO, an project which supports over 5000 orphans in Malawi, where he has helped to build schools and orphan centres. Having adopted his daughter 2 years ago, Dave now manages to juggle fatherhood, his own business and his charity projects and is a true role model."

Homo Hero - Public Sector Partner of the year North West Ambulance Service NWAS is privileged to serve the population of the North West. We have an active LGBT network raising awareness within our organisation and regularly attend Pride events across the region. Always enjoying the warm welcome we receive from the community. We are proud to work with the LGF on initiatives to enhance safety in the village area. Supporting the wonderful Village Angels and also placing two defibrillators in the area. We want everyone to be safe and healthy whilst in the City Centre and we will continue to work with the community to achieve that aim.

Homo Hero - Volunteer of the year
Jenny-Anne Bishop
Jenny-Anne has been an LGBT community volunteer since 1996 and “out” in the Trans* community for over 40 years. She is a Trustee of the Sparkle Charity and has organised key events at Sparkle since 2007. Jenny-Anne coordinates TransForum Manchester and is the Outreach Coordinator for Unique North Wales. She tirelessly advocates for Trans* rights, advises both the Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity and the Welsh Government, and provides Transgender Awareness and Equality workshops for a wide range of organisations. She also works on promoting the reporting and reduction of Trans/Homophobic hate crime and runs the Trans Community House.

Homo Hero - Community group or organisation of the year Village Bakers The Village Bakers are an LGBT social group with the aim to Bake it! Bring it! and Share it!, Founded in November 2012 with a simple belief that there is no better way to make friends then sharing a big slice of cake. The philosophy of the group focuses on being a fully inclusive social group at the heart of the community. Whilst checking for soggy bottoms and stiff peaks Village Bakers has been involved in numerous community events supporting George House Trust, The LGF, IDAHO Day, Manchester Pride and Sparkle.

Homo Hero - LGB&T venue of the Year Award The Molly House The Molly House-Vintage bar & cafe in Manchester's famous gay village. For discerning gay boys and girls. Three levels of fun, food & frolics of post-Victorian decadent shabby chic

The Barclays Straight Ally Award
Tracey Walsh
From one of her nominations:
"Tracey is an absolute pillar of Manchester's Gay Village, raising thousand's of pounds for charities in her 25 year reign at New York, New York. From simply helping various LGBT groups to promote their offerings to being a pivotal part of making Our Gay Village look nice with the hanging baskets outside venues. Tracey is there whether to be an ear for advice or to give the village the boosts it needs."

The Alan Turing Memorial Award
The Campaign For Homosexual Equality
2014 is the 50th Anniversary of The Campaign for Homosexual Equality a democratic voluntary organisation, founded in 1964 as the North Western Committee for Homosexual Law Reform. It played a key part in the initial campaigns leading up to the decriminalisation of male homosexual activities in 1967. In 1969 it was renamed the Committee for Homosexual Equality (CHE). CHE became a national organisation and was Britain's leading LGBT organisation for many years, CHE, and its local groups around the country, played a vital part in the gay and lesbian life of the country, and the story of CHE is a major part of the story of the advance of LGBT people from 1964 onwards.

The Homo Hero Awards 2014 Outstanding Achievement Award Duncan Craig, Survivors Manchester From one of his nominations: "Duncan puts the people that access Survivors service users front and centre. Duncan puts his team first. Duncan listens. Duncan laughs. Duncan challenges and he changes. Duncan inspires me and inspires others. He deserves this award."

A special award to celebrate 25 years of service was also give to The LGF’s Chief Executive, Paul Martin OBE.

The Homo Heroes Awards was held last night to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the birth of the modern LGBT rights movement in Manchester, later known as The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). A tribute and celebration was held earlier in the day and a plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Manchester at Church House on Deansgate, where some of the first meetings took place.

Paul Martin OBE, Chief Executive of The Lesbian & Gay Foundation said: “Fifty years ago today on the 7th October 1964, in Church House on Deansgate, eight people responded to a local newspaper advert to attend a public meeting and we saw the birth of the modern LGBT equality movement right here in Manchester. That's why we chose this date. We are absolutely standing on the shoulders of giants in terms of the courage and commitment that they showed.”

“All the nominees are voted for by the general public and the standard of nominees is particularly high this year, all would be deserving winners. It's important to remember how highly the community values their contribution to the lives of LGBT people and that to many, they really are heroes,” he added.

Paul Chapman at Barclays reflected on the event by saying: “The LGF Homo Heroes Awards are a brilliant opportunity to celebrate role models within the LGBT community. The event acknowledges the diversity within the LGBT community in its own right and demonstrated how great outcomes can be achieved by ordinary people taking progressive action to embrace LGBT inclusion.”

Published: 9-Oct-2014: (2639)