Continually bending over backwards for his children is why Luke Nicholls has been named Parent of the Year.
It was an emotional evening for Luke as he collected his award, and said that he was gobsmacked and had few words to describe the feeling.
‘I don’t feel like I’m special, there are so many more worthy people than me, I’m a dad and I just do what dads do,’ he said.
‘My children are just my world and I will always do whatever I can to help them and be there for them no matter what, from my 27-year-old to my one-year-old.’
Luke said he had a difficult childhood and had made himself a promise that if he were to ever have children, he would always be there for them when the needed him and would stand by them in any way and never leave them behind.
‘This means that the promise I made to myself all those years ago I have managed to stick to and apparently not done too bad of a job at being a dad,’ he said.
His partner and nominator Emma Huddle said that there had been times when one of his older children’s cars has broken down, and Luke gave them his car and he would walk or microscooter to places until he could get another car for himself.
‘Last year we welcomed a daughter. He was nervous at first but she completes him. Again, he does whatever he can for her. He will always call to see how her day is, any spare time he has – this man works 24/7 to keep a roof over his and two of his other kids’ heads – he’ll put in to spending time with her,’ she said.
Luke said that his £1000 prize would go back to where it all began and he would be spoiling his children with a nice meal, and the rest of the money would go towards hosting Christmas for them all.
Natalie Alderton and Elia Shaw were the other finalists in the category.