Stephen Sutton: Pride of Britain award for teenage fundraiser

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-29418992

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Cancer fundraiser Stephen Sutton is to be the first person to be awarded a posthumous Pride of Britain award.

The 19-year-old, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, died in May after launching an appeal in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

It raised almost £5m, of which £2.9m has been used to set up specialist cancer units for young people.

The award will be presented to his mother, Jane, at a televised ceremony next week.

She said her son would have been "honoured" to get the award.

Organisers said they had been "overwhelmed" with nominations for Stephen on social media sites, receiving over 20,000 in one 48-hour period.

His award will be presented by Teenage Cancer Trust supporters including Who frontman Roger Daltrey and comedian Jason Manford.

Mr Manford said: "He was an amazing lad and a credit to humanity - he is the Pride of Britain."

Stephen was diagnosed with terminal cancer aged 15. He drew up a "bucket list" of things he wanted to achieve before he died.

This led to him completing a skydive and playing drums in front of 90,000 people before the Uefa Champions League final at Wembley.

He also set a target of raising £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The trust said £1.2m of the money raised would be invested in training future cancer nurses and support staff.

The money will also fund 50 care scholarships at Coventry University over five years "in recognition of [Stephen's] ambition to have a medical career", it added.

A further £700,000 will be spent on improving the charity's cancer information services and helping patients attend its annual weekend conference.