HiQ Names 2010 ‘Hero’

A Worcester woman has beaten thousands of unsung volunteers and fundraisers to win the ‘HiQ Hero’ award. A month after selecting ten finalists in the campaign to ‘unmask’ the real-life heroes that live amongst us, the fast-fitter has selected Becky Hurd the UK’s number one hero. Ms Hurd, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 29 and now raises money for the Cure Parkinson's Trust, was presented with her award by Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell OBE in Birmingham. As well as gaining the accolade of being the 'HiQ Hero' for 2010, Ms Hurd was presented with a cheque for £500 and a £5,000 cash sum to be spent on a worthy charity or project of her choice.

“I’m both delighted and humbled to win such a prestigious award amongst such great company in the other shortlisted contenders,” said Becky Hurd. “I was so shocked because the other nominations were equally worthy. I’m sure it was nigh on impossible for HiQ to select a winner. I now just hope I can continue raising awareness for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust, where the money will be going. I’d like to thank my husband John and my little girl Mollie.

“I now can’t walk or talk without drugs,” she added. “There are 120,000 sufferers in the UK alone and I will keep working with the trust in the hope of finding a cure.” At the award presentation ceremony Sally Gunnell paid tribute to Ms Hurd and said she was an example for everyone to follow.

“We are all delighted for Becky,” commented HiQ’s retail director Peter Tye. “When we launched this campaign we wanted to honour the selfless people in our society who give so much time and energy for worthwhile causes, yet never wish for a thing in return. Becky embodied this and we were all delighted to see her collect her award.

“Our HiQ Hero campaign was huge for us and we were staggered by the amount of entries and the quality of those that entered,” Tye added. “It has helped us position the HiQ fast fit network as a network of trust, with community heroes at each of our 150 centres nationwide.”