Halifax's Luke Ambler wins JustGiving Award 2017 for Andy's Man Club work nationally

Andy's Man Club founder Luke Ambler, right, with fellow Yorkshireman, war veteran Simon Brown, at the JustGiving Awards 2017 held at The Brewery, London. Luke won the PayPal Crowdfunder of the Year category

Luke, of Halifax, launched #itsokaytotalk after his brother-in-law, Andy, sadly committed suicide in 2016.

He wanted to create a safe space where men could speak without fear of being judged, setting up Andy’s Man Club, encouraging men from all walks of life to talk to other like-minded men in his home town.

When the #itsokaytotalk selfie campaign took off on social media, Luke realised that this was a big problem nationally.

Luke Ambler speaking at the JustGiving 2017 Awards in London

He is now crowdfunding to set up an Andy’s Man Club in areas across the UK - you can find our more an contribute by logging on to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/andysmanclubitsokaytotalk

Football presenter Jeff Stelling and the family of Bradley Lowery, the young Sunderland FC who passed away after a long battle against neuroblastoma - a rare type of cancer - captured the hearts of people across the country including his hero, Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe, were announced among the winners for their fundraising efforts.

The nine award winners at vthe Brewery, London, were: Luke Ambler (PayPal Crowdfunder of the Year); Esther Marshall (The JustGiving Life Changer Award), from London; Brooke Taylor (Young Fundraiser of the Year, presented by Denise Van Outen), from Bolton; Jeff Stelling (Celebrity Fundraiser of the Year); Chris Pickhaver (Creative Fundraiser of the Year); Gary McKee (Endurance Fundraiser of the Year), from Cumbria; Alzheimer’s Society (Charity of the Year); Vicki Woodall / Games and the Giant Pledge (The Outstanding Commitment Award), from Surrey; and Bradley Lowery (Special Recognition Award)

Throughout the year men, women and children of all ages have gone above and beyond to raise money for good causes. From charity fundraising to setting up awareness campaigns and supporting families facing illness or bereavement, people have shown incredible commitment to making a positive impact in 2017, said a JustGiving spokesman.

JustGiving received a record 31,000 nominations this year – from a man crawling the London Marathon dressed as a Gorilla to a 10-year-old victim of the Manchester Arena attack raising funds for the British Red Cross.

Rhys Goode, spokesperson for JustGiving, said: “This year we’ve broken all our previous records for both nominations and votes for the finalists.

From 72,000 nominations, we’ve welcomed 24 finalists and now have nine winners – each and everyone one of them are truly inspirational. Congratulations to them all.”