Heroes are inspiration to other brave children
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Giving hope to children going through hard times is important for father-of-five Peter Mason.
The director at Inverness legal firm Macleod and MacCallum, which is sponsoring the brave child of the year category for the third time at this year’s Highland Heroes awards, said it was important to share the stories of such brave children.
He said: “There were lots of inspiring stories from the young ones at the last two years’ awards – sometimes they’ve been through a difficult time and their stories showed how strong they are and how they’ve come through it.
“It’s important to get their stories out there because, if other kids are seeing that, it might give them a little bit of hope to see that other young people have been through it and come out the other end.
“There are bound to be children out there now who are going through a tough time and thinking ‘where do I go with all of this?’ If they hear stories of other children going through something similar, or worse, and see where they are now – that’s maybe the message to get out there – it gives others hope and inspiration.”
Readers of five SPP Media newspapers across the region are being encouraged to nominate their local heroes across 14 categories in this year’s Highland Heroes awards, which is now in its third year.
Mr Mason said they decided unanimously to continue to support the brave child category, having done so since the inaugural awards, particularly because the company deals with children experiencing difficult times in its family law team.
“The stories of the children at the awards evenings over the last two years confirmed to us what a very worthy award it was to sponsor,” he said. “On the night it has been the first award that was given and certainly the most emotional award – there were a few tears around our table.”
The category was won last year by cousins Leo Flett and Sam Douglas from Inverness.
Leo has a rare form of muscular dystrophy, while Sam has an undiagnosed neurological condition which causes several complications including epilepsy. Their families rallied, founding the Leo’s Pride and Step Up for Sam charities to support the boys.
Sam’s parents have also set up a new charity, Dream Believe Achieve Highland, to help other children with complex medical needs.
To nominate somebody you feel deserves recognition in this or any other category, fill in the form here.
The deadline for nominations is midnight on Saturday, August 31.
