Today marks the first winner announcement for the Wirral Globe Community Heroes Awards.

As we have continued to rebuild and recover from the coronavirus pandemic, the awards are given to honour those who have gone above and beyond in the last 20 months.

The awards will recognise the everyday heroes and those working in business, education and hospitality who have stepped up.

The first winner to be announced is for the category Young Person Award which is sponsored by Wirral Council.

This award recognises a young person who has shown resilience beyond their years over the past 20 months.

They have carried out voluntary work, performed a carer role in their family or demonstrated independence and maturity while their key worker parent/guardian battled coronavirus.

We are delighted to announce that the winner of our first award is Shay Pinnington.

Shay was nominated for this award for his hard work and resilience to sport during the pandemic.

During lockdown 13-year-old Shay ran a full marathon distance in just over four hours to raise money for his local boxing gym, Birkenhead Venture Boxing Gym.

He managed to raise £700 to help with the cost of maintaining the gym during lockdown restrictions to prevent it from closure.

Wirral Globe:

Demonstrating his love and commitment to the sport, Shay continued to train throughout lockdown despite his gym not being open.

Shay was also awarded a silver medal in the ABA National Schoolboy Championships, ranking him at number two in England.

Part of Shay’s nomination said: “Shay is a remarkable young man and an inspiration to future generations.”

Also Highly Commended in this category was Junior Frood. Junior has raised thousands for children cancer charities, bullying charities and Boys Can Dance Awareness.

Congratulations to Shay – our first Wirral Globe Community Hero of 2021. Also well done to Junior.

Wirral Globe:

Tomorrow we will be announcing the winner of our Education Hero award.