Campaign seeks to make wee Oliver a ‘Spirit of NI’ winner

The awards recognise those who are an inspiration to us, and those who selflessly serve others.

Barry White, who supported Oliver’s fundraising campaign to enable the Millburn Primary School pupil to have specialist surgery in the US, made the appeal through his blog, ‘White Stuff’ last week.

Barry explained: “Wee Oliver’s journey over the past 15 months is remarkable. What he has achieved through sheer grit and a refusal to be beaten, has become an inspiration for people of all ages. I hope everyone will now get behind him again by nominating him to receive an award.

“Seeing Oliver walk on stage to collect it will be a sight none of us are ever likely to forget.”

Nominations are now open for the awards, which are the only televised awards ceremony in Northern Ireland.

The finalists will be honoured at a gala ceremony on Friday June 12, at the luxurious five-star Culloden Estate and Spa resort in Holywood,

You can nominate now via the UTV website. You need to include your name, address and telephone number; the name, address, telephone number and email address of the person you are nominating; and the reason you think they are worthy of a Spirit of NI award in 50-100 words. You can drop the downloaded form in to any Specsavers branch, post it to the Sunday Life or email it to [email protected]. The closing date is May 1.