Adrian Seal, the Ealing Gazette's multimedia content manager, said the Pride in our People awards was one of the highlights of the year and thanked everyone, especially TVU the sponsors for their support.

He said: "The awards are all about focusing on the unsung heroes in our community who otherwise would not receive the recognition they so richly deserve for some truly remarkable feats and achievements.

"We received a large number of nominations covering all sectors of the community and wide range of age groups. It was not an easy task selecting the finalists and the judging panel was faced with an extremely difficult task in making their final decisions.

"There were many wonderful nominations, which captured exceptional cases of caring, courage, bravery and dedication. Not everyone can be an outright winner, but just by being here tonight makes all our finalist a hero in their own right and they can justifiably feel proud of their achievement in being nominated for an award."

He said the Gazette was the voice of the community and was dedicated to delivering news and views on subjects which matter to our audience.

He added: "We have a firm commitment to build and maintain strong links with the communities we serve and see ourselves very much at the heart of community life through the area."

Adrian then presented a £100 to Joe Whittacker, from B-Hug, who nominated David Wright and a personalised clock to Rachel Agnew, thanking them both for supporting the awards.

Dr Ian Tunbridge, deputy vice chancellor of TVU, welcomed the mayor and mayoress, Cllr Rajinder and Cllr Gurmit Mann and the guest of honour Rachel Agnew. He spoke about her TV presenting career, which started last year at the age of 43. He said Rachel spent five years as a comedienne in her early 20s and was working as a marketing consultant when she applied for the Loose Women competition. She beat over 3,000 applicants and was such a hit she was invited back for more appearances.

He then spoke about TVU's recent success in the Guardian's University Guide 2011, which ranked all 118 universities in the UK according to teaching excellence. It placed TVU in 77th position, making it the highest ranked modern university in London for the second year running.

He said: "The Guide also compared universities by subject and highlights for TVU include number one in London and England's top ten for nursing, tourism, transport and travel. It is also the number one modern university in London for business and management studies, computer science and IT."

He added this academic year TVU was the only modern university to receive the Queen's Anniversary Prize for further and higher education and he was very proud of all it had achieved.

Rachel Agnew, said it was a truly humbling experience to be the guest of honour at the awards ceremony. She said: "I changed my life last year by winning a competition and appearing on TV. It's nothing compared to what you guys have done. I talk about how my life has turned around when awful things happened; my marriage broke up and I lost my job. My optimism and positive thinking got me through it.

"People say I am inspirational, but what I have heard tonight is truly inspirational. It is utterly humbling to see what you have done. I am honoured to be here and have been a part of it."