Stars shine on night of inspiration
Celebrities gather in Glasgow to pay tribute to the heroes of The Pride of Scotland awards
“I am in awe of just how huge an impact she has had.”
Highlander and Game of Thrones star James Cosmo was talking about Lifetime achievement winner Elaine Wyllie, but his words could have applied to any of the winners at Pride of Scotland 2024.
and he was far from alone in being awestruck, as a host of famous faces lined up to pay tribute to the nation’s unsung heroes on an inspirational and uplifting night.
Hosted by Elaine C Smith and Sanjeev Kohli, the Daily Record Pride of Scotland awards with TSB, which you can watch now on YouTube, is full of laughs as well as poignant and emotional moments.
Pride of Scotland celebrates courage, selflessness and compassion, qualities shared by all the winners.
and as they took to the stage at the Glasgow Hilton, to wave after wave of standing ovations from the star-studded audience, it was clear just how much those qualities matter.
From the first winner, little Caleb Stirrat, who has kept smiling through treatment for a brain tumour and helped his family launch a charity to help other seriously ill children, to the last, the lifesaving volunteer heroes of the RNLI, there was a
common thread of hope and inspiration that lit up the stage.
Kaylynn Donald and abbie Jarvis were victims of violent bullying attacks that shocked Scotland, but their bravery in making a stand on behalf of other young people sent a
powerful message to the bullies. asif Iqbal, who pulled a man from a burning car, showed a different kind of courage, along with PC andrew mcLaughlin and ali malik, who arrested a machete-wielding criminal after a car chase described by a colleague as “like something from Starsky and Hutch”.
Elaine and John Sangster were thinking of others when they decided to use their tiny Shetland ponies to offer therapy visits to care home residents and disabled and vulnerable children. When they led one of the ponies, Wilson, resplendent in his own kilt, on stage, it brought the house down.
Teenager Lochlan murdoch was motivated by his own challenges with diabetes and depression to help other young people and Sarah Garvin realised how sharing her experience of growing up with ADHD would inspire young girls in the same situation. Firefighter John aitchison could have taken a step back after serving as part of the UK’s disaster response team following the Nepal earthquake in 2015. Instead he kept returning to the country to train locals to be lifesavers as well as supporting emergency services colleagues back home with their mental health. and molly Cuddihy and Sara millar, who forged a deep friendship while they were both being treated for cancer as teenagers, were motivated by helping other young people in hospital, raising more than £300,000 to help. You can see all their incredible stories in full on YouTube now, along with all the amazing stage moments from the emotional show by scanning the QR code on this page.
There was a common thread of hope and inspiration that lit up the stage