22 Black Country Heroes who made us love our region more, according to locals
Our brilliant Black Country has so much to give to the world - with leading industries, brilliant beer, amazing attractions and more - but our greatest gift is our people.
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Within the four Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton you will meet some incredible characters.
We asked our readers to name the local people they most admire in the Black Country - and were inundated with almost 1,000 responses as we prepare for a new and exciting awards event titled Black Country Heroes as the Express & Star marks 150 years.
A glitzy ceremony will be held in their honour at Molineux on September 23 with and you’ve got until Sunday, June 23 to nominate your hero for one of the 12 awards.
The categories are: Child of Courage Award, Future Star, Young Star, Volunteer of the Year, Community Champion, Environmental Award, Fundraiser of the Year, Uniformed Hero, Outstanding Bravery Award, NHS Hero Award and Wellbeing and Mental Health Champion.
You can find out more and nominate your hero here: Black Country Heroes
Ahead of the awards let’s take a look at 21 Black Country heroes according to our readers:
1) Duncan Edwards - the footballer from Woodside in Dudley, who played for England in the 1950s and was ranked as one of the toughest of his time. Duncan was one of the Busby Babes and died as a result of the Munich air disaster.
2) Blind Dave Heeley - a father-of-three from West Bromwich who is the first blind person to complete the seven-marathon challenge.
