Day 246: Peugeot Attitude PRIDE Europe awards 2025

Best bits: sharing the experience with Will

Worst bits: waiting for announcement

Distance: rest day

Wow today was a very special one and something I’ve kept secret for a while. You may remember I went for a photo shoot back in May. Well today is why.

Suitably suited and booted in ‘summer chic’ and wearing our Pride coloured hearts, Greg kindly dropped Will and I off at the door of the Peninsula London hotel in Belgravia.

Celebrities were arriving in Peugeot Pride branded cars and photographers were snapping away. We slipped in round the side.

What an amazing event hosted by Tom Allen. Blimey the first up was Frankie Grande with an energetic and scantily clad performance!

Food and fine wines were provided by M&S. Then the awards ceremony started. I was feeling anxious and excited at the same time.

There were three Pride ICON awards to;

Dame Kelly Holmes – Double Olympic gold medallist turned mental health and LGBTQ+ advocate, was celebrated for her honesty, visibility, and commitment to helping others feel less alone.

Yungblud – The genre-blurring musician was celebrated for his fearless self-expression and for giving voice to queer youth and outsiders through his music and activism.

Andy Bell – The Erasure frontman has been a visible, unapologetically gay pop icon for four decades, breaking boundaries and championing LGBTQ+ representation since the 1980s.

Pride awards to:

Carla Antonelli – Spain’s first openly trans senator and a lifelong activist, was honoured for her political trailblazing and fearless advocacy for trans rights across Europe.

Caroline Paige MBE – The first openly transgender officer to serve in the British Armed Forces, was recognised for her courage, resilience, and work supporting LGBTQ+ veterans.

Erwann Le Hô – President of Nice’s LGBTQ+ centre and host of Lou Queernaval, was recognised for a decade of community leadership and Pride activism in France.

Lesbians and Gays support the miners – The historic grassroots group behind a landmark moment of queer-solidarity activism in the 1980s, were honoured for their lasting legacy of unity and allyship.

Miss Tess Tickle – A drag queen and charity founder from northeast England, was recognised for raising millions to support vulnerable people in her local community.

Mohamed Ali ‘Dali’ Aguerbi – A Tunisian refugee now based in Malta, was honoured for his work creating safe spaces and support networks for queer migrants across Europe.

AND

Tracey Howe (me!) – Following the death of her wife, Tracey began walking Britain’s coastline in her memory – raising thousands and spreading messages of love, grief, and hope.

They played a video on the three big screens and even I felt emotional seeing Angela up there.

Then they called my name and there was a standing ovation. I made my way to the stage with wobbly legs. I was overwhelmed by the response.

It took all my strength to say a few words. Firstly thanking the sponsors and then dedicating the award to Angela noting it was appropriate the award was an A for Angela. I thanked my two sons Will and Danny, my family and friends, everyone who has donated and of course the generous people who have helped me along the way making my journey possible.

I made my way back to my seat to another standing ovation. I was glad when I got back to my chair and could sit down.

I felt so honoured to be included in this list of amazing people.

It was time to relax a little and after the raffle was drawn I popped to the very luxurious ladies, which was so big you needed a map! I was stopped along the way by people saying that they were crying when they heard my story and my speech.

I was just in the loo starting my business when people were shouting my name and saying come out quick. I don’t know if you have tried to do an emergency stop in a toilet but it’s not easy, especially when you were desperate in the first place. A woman grabbed me by the hand and rushed me back into the main room.

Alas I had missed it. Darren Styles the publisher had made an announcement that he recently had a cancer scare and my story touched him so much he had committed to double my prize money from Peugeot. WOW that was brilliant news and very generous. Other people gave us money or promised to donate online.

Then it was time to get photos and enjoy talking to people and give out some hearts and cards. Without exception everyone had said that they had been very touched by my story and had been tearful and were glad that there were tissues on the tables. Here are a selection of photos.

The free bar closed before I could get a drink! What a day. Will and I left exhausted and Greg collected us, we had taken so long to come out that he had been moved on!

Back at their flat Will wanted a couple of more photos before we could completely relax. This is my favourite photo.