Simon Cowell with BuddyBear

In 2015, to his surprise Brendan McConville, Chairman of the Buddy Bear Trust found out he had been nominated and shortlisted for the Pride of Britain Awards. He went on to win the UTV Pride of Britain Award, receiving an invitation to the ITV Pride of Britain Awards Ceremony in London.

As the main fundraiser for the Buddy Bear Trust, Brendan has dedicated the last 25 years to ensuring that the School remains open and helping every child fortunate enough to be able to attend it. On hearing of his nomination for this award, Brendan was firmly of the belief that the award was for the whole school, a recognition for the great work that everyone involved with Buddy Bear Trust contributes to it. A team effort.

On the night of the awards Brendan, along with all the other regional winners of the Pride of Britain met in the Hotel that the awards ceremony was taking place in to celebrate their own achievements and find out who the ITV Pride of Britain award was going to. Unfortunately Brendan did not win this award, however he successfully used the opportunity to meet with celebrities such as Simon Cowell, Alisha Dixon, Boris Johnston, A.P McCoy and many others to raise awareness of the Buddy Bear Trust and the great work that Ildkio (Principal Conductor at the school), all the classroom assistants, staff and parents do.

By networking and talking to everyone at the event, the fight that parents, their children and the Buddy Bear Trust face was able to be highlighted. Many people were very interested in seeing photos and videos of the children’s progress and leaflets about the School (which Brendan conveniently happened to have on hand!) and also how, although given no hope of a future by Health Officials, these children have been able to overcome the adversity they face and achieve great outcomes such as, being able to roll over, craw, walk, eat and communicate - things that we all take for granted!

The Pride of Britain awards ceremony therefore was a great place to make connections for the whole of Northern Ireland, as celebrities such as Simon Cowell were interested in visiting the Buddy Bear Trust and Northern Ireland.

Please take a look at the video that UTV’s Paul Riley made after Brendan’s nomination. You can find it here.

You can also read more about Simon Cowell's chat with Brendan here!