Pride of Edinburgh Awards, 16th May 2014, Winner of Inspirational Young Adult Award

My invite to the event

On 28th April 2014 I received an email that has changed the way I look at things overall. The email was sent from a woman connected to "The Pride of Edinburgh Awards". The Pride of Edinburgh Awards is basically like Pride of Britain. 2014 was the first year of the awards and people nominate their local heroes from throughout Edinburgh and the Lothian's. The email stated that I had been shortlisted as a finalist for the award "Inspirational Young Adult" and they would love me and a guest to accept their invitation to the awards ceremony on 16th May. I was ecstatic, I could not believe it. Even to be nominated for something like this is an amazing thing but to become a finalist is beyond what words can say.

Me and Sean, Summer 2013

My best friend Sean Rodger nominated me for the award. I have known Sean for coming up 11 years now. We met back when we both attended the same After School Club and although our friendship has had it's ups and downs, it's moments where we didn't want to know each other...it's made our friendship stronger than it has ever been. Sean nominated me because he felt I was an inspiration to not only him but my family, friends and anyone I meet. I have been through so much, being admitted to hospital several times every single month since I was 15 years old but I always stay positive and never let it bring me down. I keep others around me strong when I have every right to break down. I never let my illness get in the way of my hopes and dreams. Despite fighting a daily battle with several chronic illnesses, I managed to get into University to study psychology something everybody has been extremely proud of me for. I help others and my community. I volunteer every Saturday when I am well in my local British Heart Foundation Charity Shop. I also raise awareness for charities and do fundraising. On 8th June 2014 I will be running the annual Edinburgh Color Me Rad 5k where I will be raising funds for Asthma UK.

I accepted the invitation to the awards and Sean also booked a ticket to go the ceremony. As the day grew closer I got phone calls off Edinburgh Evening News as they were doing write ups of the awards. They did a write up off all the finalists of the awards. In my write up they wrote:
"Nicole Gray, 20, from Musselburgh, suffers from asthma so severe she has had 39 hospital admissions in the past year. She is also prone to seizures and allergies, and was advised not to go to university because of her condition. But the former James Gillespie’s High School pupil was so determined to fulfil her dream and is and is now studying psychology at Edinburgh Napier University. She said: “I don’t tend to let my health issues get in the way of doing the things that I want to do.”" 

The East Lothian Courier also wrote a piece about my nomination. They wrote:
"Inspirational Nicole is up for region-wide award INSPIRATIONAL student Nicole Gray has been nominated for an award by her best friend after battling to overcome a string of debilitating health conditions. Nicole, 20, who lives in Musselburgh with her mum, has suffered from allergies for most of her life, but as she hit her teens she faced fresh... challenges. From the age of 15 she has been diagnosed with brittle asthma, anaphylaxis and began to suffer unexplained seizures. She has to carry an adrenaline injector with her at all times in case she suffers an anaphylactic reaction, and has been rushed to hospital 200 times since she was diagnosed, aged 16. Nicole, who is currently studying psychology at Edinburgh Napier University, has been shortlisted for Inspirational Young Adult at this year's Pride of Edinburgh ceremony by her best friend Sean Rodger, who described her as an inspiration. She will find out tonight (Friday), at a glittering ceremony in Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms, whether or not she has won. The plucky young woman who volunteers at the British Heart Foundation charity shop at weekends is preparing to take part in the annual Edinburgh Color Me Rad 5k to raise money for Asthma UK, she says she tries to remain positive whatever life throws at her. Nicole said: "I never let being told I can't do something stop me from giving it the best shot I possibly can. "I take each day as it comes and I don't take the little things for granted. "People have said to me that I go through a lot in my life and if it were them they wouldn't be able to do it. "They sometimes look at me differently compared to before I was diagnosed but the truth is I'm no different a person to when I was 15; my overall personality has remained the same throughout. I am a person, not a list of conditions.""

Hair all done :)

May 16th finally arrived and I truly could not be more excited. I was nervous at the same time as I had never been to anything quite like the awards before but I could not wait. I got my hair all done lovely at 3:15pm and got home for 5:30pm where I began to get ready. By 5:45pm I was ready and Sean arrived at my house ready for us to go. My mum and her partner also were attending the awards so we were driven up in the car.

Completed look: curled hair, red thin strap long dress
and blue shoes

Me and Sean all ready
for the event :)

The Pride of Edinburgh Awards
sponsored by Edinburgh Evening
News and Lidl

We arrived at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, the venue for the awards ceremony, at about 6:30pm. We were greeted with a drinks reception and took many pictures to remember the night. We spent an hour having drinks within the waiting area before we were taken through into the dining room where tables were set up facing a stage. We were sat at Table 27 beside another award nominee and his family. We sat down and Grant Stott, who was presenting the night, came onto the stage. He kept us entertained with an "ice-breaker game" with the final few people ending up on stage. After the entertainment we listened to a few different people talking. One being the editor of the evening news and the other being a representative from Lidl who were sponsoring the awards. We also watched the dance group "Dansation" perform two dances. We then proceeded to have a 3 course meal.

Tomato and red pepper soup
for starters

Chicken with mashed potatoes,
leeks, onion and a white sauce
for main course

Lemon mouse with a biscuit base,
fresh whipped cream and lemon
shavings on top served with raspberries
and strawberries for pudding

The food was absolutely gorgeous and tasted amazing. The catering staff were great when dealing with my allergies. They had a separate part of the kitchen where people with allergies food was cooked in order to prevent cross contamination as well as the chef phoning me before the event to check everything over with me.

Winner, Nicole Gray!

After teas and coffees had been served the main part of the evening started, the awards ceremony. My award, "Inspirational Young Adult", was first on the list. I sat with butterflies in my stomach barely able to keep my eyes open with excitement but nerves. They had a representative from Costa, the company sponsoring my award, come on stage to hand out the award. They opened the gold envelope containing the name of the winner and they said "The winner of the inspirational young adult award is...Nicole Gray". I could not believe it, I was in complete shock at the thought that I had just won the award. I stood up and walked up to the stage with everyone clapping and smiling up at me. I was handed my award (I even got a kiss on the cheek from the costa representative!) and a picture was taken for the Edinburgh Evening News. The room then got to watch a 1 minute video of why I was nominated for the award. My best friend Sean had been filmed talking about why I had been nominated and it was played on the big screen for all to see. He could hardly contain the redness of his face when I walked back to the table to join him again. I walked off the stage with my knees completely shaking in absolute shock unable to stop smiling.

Sean on the big screen talking about why he
nominated me

Me with me award unable to stop smiling :)

Several other award winners were announced and we had further entertainment. First of Saskia Eng, winner of Edinburgh's Got Talent 2013, performed "Say Something" and "Blame it on the Boogie". She is only 12 years old but wow! What a voice she has, she gave a fantastic performance and she is definitely going to go far. Afterwards we had Anna McLuckie, contestant on the UK Voice 2013, perform 3 songs accompanied by her harp. She was fantastic! I would love to see more of her live. After their performances the rest of the awards were announced and all the winners were asked to go back onto stage to have their pictures taken together for the Edinburgh Evening News.

All the winners on stage with their awards

Then it was time to go home. The excitement of the evening making the atmosphere buzz with people smiling all around and congratulating others on their nomination or their winning of the award. It was such an amazing opportunity to attend the awards and is something which I am extremely grateful for. It is something which I will remember for the rest of my life and will always make me smile when I think about it. Words cannot express just what winning the award means to me. To think I genuinely inspires others is an amazing thing, it makes me happy to know that others look up to me and think of me as an inspiration. I would most of all like to thank Sean for nominating me, for being such an amazing friend and person over the years I've known him and for being a massive support through everything I have been through.

Me and Sean after the awards with my award :)

My award sponsored by Costa Coffee

If anyone would be interested in seeing a collection of the pictures I took on the night here is a link to the YouTube video I made with the pictures in it: