Alison Hammond had plenty of reasons to celebrate following this year’s British Diversity Awards (Picture: REX)
TV royalty Alison Hammond has been given an award and we love to see it.
Yep, the This Morning favourite, 48, was recognised for her work to champion equality and diversity at a prestigious event hosted by June Sarpong MBE.
Multi platinum-selling music artist Paloma Faith, 41, presented the trophy to the popular broadcaster on Wednesday (March 23) at the Burberry British Diversity Awards.
And there were plenty of people there to cheer for her, as the major celebration welcomed more than 1,000 celebrities and influential business leaders to Grosvenor House in London, as the awards honoured those inspiring change across diversity and inclusion.
Hosted also by Dr Ranj Singh, the event was attended by the likes of Suranne Jones, Denise Welch and several cast-members of the Netflix smash-hit Heartstopper, as corporate, charity, community and celebrity icons won big at the glamorous event.
ITV’s Alison led the winners for highlighting racism, inequality and injustice on major broadcasting platforms and across her social media platforms as media champion in the public eye.
The This Morning star rocked up to the starry event in a glam ensemble (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)
In recent years, Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Westlife singer Mark Feehily and Liverpool FC legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher have scooped gongs, with Alison joining an exclusive list of iconic starry names.
Elsewhere, music icon Eméli Sande wowed the audience with some of her greatest hits, while Labour MP Dawn Butler delivered a powerful speech on the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Meanwhile, airline giants Virgin Atlantic won marketing campaign of the year for their gender identity policy campaign, with data analytics leaders Kantar named company of the year.
The presenter posed for a sweet snap with Dame Kelly Holmes (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)
Musician Paloma Faith was on hand to present Alison with the top honour (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)
Deon Pillay, head of marketing and operations at Legal & General Investment Management, was crowned diversity champion of the year after championing LGBTQ+ inclusion for ethnic minorities and supporting numerous organisations in launching their LGBTQ+ Networks, acting as mentor and life coach.
Banking giant HSBC UK beat off stiff competition from Selfridges and University of Birmingham to lift the diversity team of the year award. Furthermore, Micro Rainbow won the prestigious charity of the year award, presented their award by lead sponsors Burberry.
And it was Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, who took the final prize of the night for outstanding commitment to diversity. The main award honoured her social and political activism across the UK and United States, after she was named on the list of 100 Great Black Britons in 2020.
Love Island’s Amber Gill was amongst stars walking the carpet at the event (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)
Loose Woman Denise Welch was in high spirits (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)
Claire Sweeney dazzled in a sparkly blue gown (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)
Dr Ranj Singh was one of the hosts of the night (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
The Chase brain box Paul Sinha joined celebs for the celebrations (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
Burberry British Diversity Awards founder, Linda Riley, said: ‘I’d like to congratulate all of the deserving winners at this year’s Burberry-sponsored British Diversity Awards.
‘The awards rightly recognise the organisations and individuals who are doing so much to champion diversity in the workplace. It is such an important strand of any business and the winners understand how vital it is
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‘Diversity not only drives up standards and engenders a more cohesive culture but it also helps boost productivity and growth.’
She added: ‘We have come so far but we are witnessing a worrying increase in intolerance and hate crimes against minorities. That’s why we will continue to bang the drum for all things diversity and inclusion to make the UK a better place to live and work for everyone.’
British Diversity Awards 2023 winners
Community Project of the Year – UK Black Pride – sponsored by Sedulo
Head of Diversity of the Year – Cecil Peters at J.P Morgan – sponsored by 10X Banking
Hero of the Year – Katie Neeves at Cool2BTrans – sponsored by Boots
Diversity in Technology (Disability) – Brain in Hand – sponsored by BT
Marketing Campaign of the Year – Gender Identity Policy Campaign by Virgin Atlantic – sponsored by Denovo Legal Services
Sustainability Champion of the Year – Sophie Platts at Entain Group – sponsored by Centrica
Diversity Team of the Year – Inclusion Team at HSBC UK – sponsored by Haleon
Charity of the Year – Micro Rainbow – sponsored by Burberry
Inspirational Role Model of the Year – Hannah Awonuga at Barclays – sponsored by Lockton
Outstanding Employee Network of the Year – Collabor8 at Santander Consumer Finance
Outstanding Disability Network of the Year – Disability & Neurodiversity Employee Resource Groups – AMS – sponsored by EmployAbility
Outstanding Ethnic Diversity Network of the Year – Oliver Wyman at Empowered
Outstanding LGBTQIA Network of the Year – HSBC UK – Pride – sponsored by myGwork
Social Mobility Initiative of the Year – Passport to Change by Virgin Atlantic
HR Champion of the Year – Sharlene John at Selfridges – sponsored by Ruebik
Company of the Year – Kantar – sponsored by National Grid
Diversity Champion of the Year – Deon Pillay at Legal & General Investment Management – sponsored by Leathwaite
Media Champion in the Public Eye – Alison Hammond – sponsored by Greene King
Outstanding Commitment to Diversity – Phyll Opoku-Gyimah – sponsored by Attest
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Go, Alison!
