On a humbling evening at Brighton's Hilton Metropole Hotel we saluted the brave, selfless and devoted as our heroes.

The winner of Achiever of the Year was Alison French, from Brighton, who works the equivalent of a 40-hour week without any pay, running workshops for children with special needs during school holidays.

She offers activities ranging from painting, sports and computer games to karaoke for six to 19-year-olds with various conditions such as autism.

Alison set up the workshops after becoming angry when she discovered although money was being spent to improve facilities for children on her estate, nothing was being arranged for youngsters with special needs.

Alison received her award from actress Julie Graham, recently seen in ITV's William and Mary.

She was shocked when she discovered she had won, saying: "It's fantastic. I can't believe it. I don't know what to say."

Phil and Val Avery are such special parents their daughter Helen Wiseman decided she had to nominate them both.

The couple, from Burgess Hill, not only have four children by Val's previous relationship but have adopted three others.

One of the adopted children has autism and the other Downs syndrome.

If that was not enough to cope with, they have fostered more than 40 children. Phil, 58 and Val, 50, both gave up their jobs to be full-time foster parents.

Daughter Helen said: "They are wonderful caring people who have dedicated themselves to caring for children."

Phil and Val received their award from former EastEnders actor and Argus columnist David Roper.

When they returned to their table their children hugged, kissed and cried.

Val said: "I still can't quite believe all this has happened. We never thought we were doing anything special."

The Angel of the Year Award went to Martin Rankin, a hepatitis C liaison nurse at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

He gives practical support and advice to patients with hepatitis C but also offers a shoulder to cry on for those struggling to cope with their treatments.

Martin was nominated by one of his patients, Jane Lucas, who said: "He has single-handedly provided support for people stunned by the news they have hepatitis C. They feel no one understands but he does."

After receiving his award from actress Dora Bryan, Martin said: "I am very shocked but very happy and want to dedicate this award to my patients."

The Beyond the Call of Duty Award was made in honour of Jeff Tooley, a police officer run down and killed while manning a speed trap in April 1999.

This year it was won by journalist Grant Hodgson, who rescued seven people from a building ripped apart by a bomb.

Grant, a former reporter at The Argus, was one of the few British journalists to stay in Iraq covering the aftermath of the war.

On August 19 last year he was attending a routine Press briefing at the United Nations headquarters in a Baghdad hotel.

A cement truck loaded with explosives was smashed through checkpoints at the hotel entrance and blown up.

The blast collapsed a corner of the three-storey building, killing at least 17 people.

Grant, from Hove, rushed to haul bleeding casualties from the rubble.

He carried one person out, put them down and went back for another. He repeated this several times until he had managed to bring seven victims to safety.

He could not attend the ceremony due to work commitments so it was accepted on his behalf by his girlfriend Rebecca Burgess.

After being handed the award by PC Tooley's mother Veronica, Rebecca said: "Grant was really pleased to be nominated and sorry he couldn't make it on the night. He will be really honoured to have won."

Cheers erupted from the Ovingdean Hall School tables as it was named School of the Year.

Staff at the special school work tirelessly to give severely and profoundly deaf children the skills and qualifications to live, work and succeed.

They use the latest technology, combined with specialist teaching and support, to enable deaf children to make the most of their potential.

The latest Ofsted report gave the school the very rare overall grade of excellent, a feat especially remarkable given the complex needs of the pupils.

Ovingdean Hall is in the top five per cent of secondary schools nationally.

Headteacher Pauline Hughes was joined by other staff and governors on stage to accept the award from singer David van Day.

She said: "This is wonderful and a real honour for the school. It recognises all the hard work done by all the children, parents and staff and we are delighted."

There were cheers and yells when Paul Jeffries was named Pupil of the Year.

The 15-year-old from Brighton battled long and hard to save his school, East Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart), from closure.

His heartfelt speech to councillors in March, calling for his school to be saved, reduced parents and staff to tears.

Although his campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, with the school scheduled to shut next year, teachers have been overwhelmed by his efforts.

Acting headteacher Karen Lees said: "A lot of children did their best for the school but Paul was the main representative. We are thrilled he won."

After receiving his award from former Monty Python actress Carol Cleveland, Paul returned to his table and was given a hug by mum Carole.

Paul said: "It is terrific to win this award and the fight still goes on. We won't give up yet."

The award for Teacher of the Year was a difficult decision for judges, who opted for Helen Jones, nominated by the mother of Steffan Bowles.

Steffan had meningitis when he was ten and developed a brain abscess. He had to have eight life-saving operations.

He could not walk or talk properly and had to relearn many basic skills.

He spent several months at Chailey Heritage School, near Lewes, which helps children with brain injuries and disabilities.

When he eventually started at Longhill School in Rottingdean a year after his friends, it was Helen who helped him.

Now 16, he is getting ready to take his GCSEs and plans to take up an apprenticeship in woodwork at college. He attributes his progress to his teacher's vital guidance.

He said: "She helped and encouraged me beyond the call of duty."

An emotional Helen received her award from newsreader Carol Barnes.

She said: "I am completely shocked. I just don't know what to say. It is such a surprise."

Helen's colleague Rachel George said the award was thoroughly deserved.

She said: "Helen has shown this level of dedication not only to Steffan but to all other children who have needed extra help over the years."

The prize for Charity of the Year went to Haywards Heath-based Group B Strep Support.

It was set up by Jane and Robert Plumb following the death of their 17-hour-old son Theo, who contracted the Group B Streptococcus (GBS) virus in 1996.

They tried to find more information about the condition but found it difficult so decided to form a charity to provide advice for other parents whose children suffered from GBS.

Eight years on and the couple's phone in Haywards Heath is constantly ringing.

Before the charity was set up, GBS was almost unheard of in the UK with most health professionals unaware of the scale of the problem.

Now the subject has been given attention in Parliament and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has introduced a reference to the condition in its guidelines.

The award was presented to Robert and Jane by actor Michael Jayston.

Jane said: "It is fantastic news to get recognition like this."

Teenager Stacey Higgins was a popular winner of the Good Neighbour Award.

The 15-year-old not only decided to help her neighbour Peter Harmsom but got other neighbours in Abbey Close, Peacehaven, involved too.

She rushed to help Mr Harmsom when she saw him struggling on his front step but what she saw through his front door made her recoil in horror.

Rubbish was piled up in the hall, the kitchen was stacked with dirty dishes and the walls were covered in mould.

The 52-year-old could no longer cope with the housework because he suffers from a condition called myotonia, which makes his muscles seize .

Stacey began collecting all the rubbish then set about cleaning the house and garden.

Her parents joined in and the schoolgirl enlisted the help of other residents.

Stacey's mother Donna was one of several people to nominate her for an award.

Stacey recently dislocated her knee so was using a crutch as she went up to receive her award from Sussex cricket captain Chris Adams.

She said: "I'm pleased but really shocked."

Emotions ran high when it came to the award for Local Hero of the Year.

Mark Goodwin was first on the scene when a Ford Mondeo crashed in Portland Road, Hove, in October last year.

The crash resulted in the deaths of nursery nurses Natalie "Flo" McCabe and Vicki Browne while fellow nurse Beccy Fish was seriously hurt and lost part of one of her legs.

Mark, 21, from Uckfield, was speaking to friends in the street when the crash happened.

He called an ambulance and ran to help the victims.

He tried to resuscitate one of the injured girls and put pressure on wounds, applying a tourniquet until medics arrived.

Mark was nominated for the award by both the McCabe and Browne families and also Beccy Fish and her family.

In his letter of nomination, Beccy's father Malcolm said: "All of Beccy's family would like to take this opportunity to say how truly grateful we are to him. Without his prompt, mature actions we would not be so fortunate as to have Beccy alive. He is our hero."

Mark was given a standing ovation when he went to get his award from Travers Clarke-Walker, director of marketing services for Seeboard Energy.

Afterwards he said: "I am very honoured to have won this. The terrible accident on the A23 this week brought the memories back for me and must have done for the others as well."

Natalie's mother Jane said: "If he was the last person that gave Natalie assistance then I am pleased it was him. He was extremely brave."

There was a surprise on the night when editor of The Argus Simon Bradshaw presented not one but two special awards.

DJ Norman Cook was given the Contribution To Sussex award for putting Brighton firmly on the world stage.

His famous beach party, which attracted 250,000 visitors from around the UK and further afield has gone down in the musical history books.

Norman is also a dedicated Brighton and Hove Albion fan, having donated much-needed funds to the club.

Footage of the beach party was played before he collected his award to shouts and cheers.

He said: "I don't normally make speeches but I feel compelled to say something tonight. I'm a show-off and occasional drunkard but I love Brighton.

"Compared to some of the courage, bravery and love I have seen on show tonight, I don't deserve this."

Norman was asked to stay on stage while Mr Bradshaw announced a surprise extra award - Contribution To Sussex Sport.

This was awarded to cricket captain Chris Adams for his efforts in leading Sussex to its first Division One county championship in its 164-year history.

He said he was humbled to get the award and wished the Albion luck in their play-off final on Sunday.

Compre Nicholas Owen said: "I have been doing this for three years now and it just gets better and better every year. It is amazing how much excitement there is each time someone wins. It is very humbling to hear all the stories."

Mr Clarke-Walker said: "Seeboard Energy is delighted to be so closely involved with such a wide-reaching community event.

"It has been fantastic and brings it home to you when you listen to what people have done and how they managed to cope in difficult circumstances."

Mr Bradshaw said: "I was very proud to watch the awards but it was also very moving. Occasions like this are what The Argus is all about."

The Argus would like to thank the following without whose contributions the awards would not have been possible: Seeboard Energy, the main sponsors; AVT for sound, music, lighting; Hilton Brighton Metropole for the venue; Decoram for decorations; Wayne Middleton for the disco; Mike Shorer for designing the awards' Sussex Signs; XPS Print; Birkmyre Ltd.