THE five winners of this year's Pride in our People awards trod in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela, the Pope and Barack Obama during a tour of Parliament on Monday.

The tour, which included the 1097 Westminster Hall, the oldest hall of its kind in Europe where Barack Obama spoke to both Houses of Parliament recently and other leading figures have walked, was organised by Ealing Central and Acton MP Angie Bray.

She made the thank you offer to the winners at the Pride in our People ceremony at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel, Ealing on June 16, the eighth year the awards have been run jointly by the Ealing Gazette and Leader and University of West London, formerly Thames Valley University.

Speaking to the winners during a tea break in Portcullis House, Angie said: "It was my first time at the Pride awards and I was really impressed. You do a great deal in your community, unasked. It shows it comes from the heart. You are a wonderful example to everyone in the community and I wanted to show respect and thank you for everything. The best thing I could do was to invite you here and I am honoured to be sharing a cup of tea with you."

The tour included the stunning Westminster Hall where apparently old tennis balls filled with human hair were rumoured to belong to Henry VIII who played tennis there and the rarely visited gem: the 1297 Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, (cor) which, because it was underground was one of the few structures in the Palace of Westminster to survive the great fire of 1834, although much of its stonework was harmed. The Chapel is still in use today, mainly by MPs and their families for weddings and christenings.

The tour ended in the Central Lobby where members of the public can lobby their MPs and corridors lead north to the House of Commons and south to the House of Lords. The group finally had tea in ten-year-old Portcullis House which houses MPs offices.

The winners were delighted with their day. Carl Benjamin (My Hero) said: "I would never have thought I would see something like this in my lifetime. You only see it on TV. It was a great day."

Jake Anderson (Young Person) said: "I have never been here before and loved it. It's a lifetime experience."

Ashok Vala, who runs London Footwear, (Business) said: "I never thought I would do something like this; see Parliament. It's been amazing." Mary Williams (Key Worker) said:"The amazing thing was to come into the Houses of Parliament. It's a huge privilege. I loved the chapel. In spite of all the security, it was awe-inspiring. I will come again once I retire."

Guru Singh, who won the Community Champion award and Star of West London, said:"It was an excellent, really enjoyable day.

" Getting the award motivated me to do more. I didn't think my work was so appreciated." He expressed his concerns about the need to ease poverty locally and Angie admitted there was a problem. She added: "It has not got better under anyone. It needs long-term solutions such as better education and getting people back to work. Education is the biggest leg up you can offer anyone."