Awards recognise Business and Bravery

Courage is not something that is in short supply in Lisburn and as such there were two categories to represent this - the Emergency Services Hero and the Outstanding Bravery Award.
Linda and Chris Murphy won the Outstanding Bravery award.Linda and Chris Murphy won the Outstanding Bravery award.
Linda and Chris Murphy won the Outstanding Bravery award.

Clive Hamilton was the recipitent of the Emergency Services Hero Award.

He fulfilled a lifelong ambition when he joined the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service 25 years ago. Handling 999 calls Clive deals with potential life and death situations.

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In May 2014 Clive dealt with a 999 call to a block of flats in Belfast with reports of people trapped. He reacted on gut instinct to deploy a specialist appliance which resulted in a man being rescued from the blaze.

Clive volunteers as part of the Fire Support Service which helps the victims of emergencies and is also a volunteer team leader for the fire cadets programme in Lisburn.

Outstanding Bravery

Chris and Linda Murphy received the Outstanding Bravery Award.

Chris and Linda Murphy’s son Ben became ill with a rare blood condition in 2013 and despite two bone marrow transplants passed away in August 2014 aged just six.

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During Ben’s long periods at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Chris and Linda were unwavering in their support and encouragement for him and each other.

They were separated from their family and friends at home and most importantly their other young son Michael, who they missed dearly.

Since Ben’s death the couple have done all they can to raise aware of the condition Ben suffered from - HLH - and support the charity that helped them, The Histio Fund.

While dealing with their own heartbreak, they raised awareness of the condition, organising two events and raising just over £4000 for the Histio Fund in Ben’s memory.

Business Person of the Year

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This award went to Katherine Gorman who runs The Chipper Potato.

After leaving school Katherine worked part-time at a chip van in Hillsborough while attending university.

She then started a career as a classroom assistant before being drawn back to the food industry, taking over ‘The Chipped Potato’ in 2014.

Just over a year later the business is going from strength to strength and Katherine’s ambition is to establish a chain of restaurants.

She even has plans to open up a catering service that would see Fish and Chips served the Chipped Potato way at events such as weddings.

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