FUNDRAISERS, including daredevil grandmother Trish Wagstaff, have been celebrated at an Abingdon charity's annual awards ceremony.

The Against Breast Cancer Achievement Awards honoured the successes and achievements of people young and old who have demonstrated a passion and a commitment to helping others either in the home, community or workplace.

There were 10 award categories that ranged from Fundraiser of the Year and Local Hero to Sportsperson of the Year, with nominees coming from across the South East.

The 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award went to 85-year-old Trish Wagstaff, from Appleton, who has worked with Oxford's Sobell House Hospice for 25 years. 

Mrs Wagstaff's fundraising total for the charity alone is more than £120,000.

She also raised £22,000 when she did a wing walk for Cancer Research UK last year and went door-to-door to around 21 villages in South Oxfordshire to find sponsors.

It was the latest in a long list of stunts from the gutsy grandmother, included zip-lining and skydiving.

The event in Reading last week was hosted by actor Winston Ellis, who said: “ I was so proud to host the achievement awards.

"I was lucky enough to be nominated last year for their Lifetime Achievement Award and was honoured to meet all the nominees and winners this year and present them with their award."

Other winners included Fitzwaryn School in Wantage, a special needs school rated outstanding by Ofsted, which has been praised for the connection between pupils and the community.

Kelly Gibson, the charity's corporate partnership manager said: "The event is in it’s third year and it was the best year yet.

"The amount of nominations received was record breaking for us and the standard was so high our judges struggled to decide on the final winners."

Ms Gibson thanked sponsors including NEXT, Jequier Newitts Insurance Brokers, TripAdvisor and Brayborne Facilities Services for their support.

She said: "We have raised more than £30,000 for Against Breast Cancer's vital research into secondary spread breast cancer and hope that each year we can increase this figure while recognising and thanking some amazing people within our communities.

"We thoroughly enjoy organising the event and meeting such awe inspiring people.”

Against Breast Cancer is dedicated to funding ground-breaking research to increase survival after a breast cancer diagnosis by focusing on secondary spread, the cause of all breast-cancer related deaths.

It funds research that addresses critical gaps in scientific resources and knowledge.

A full list of nominees and winners are available on the achievementawards.org website.