A REPATRIATION fund set up by people in Newry two years ago clinched one of the top prizes at this year's Ulster Tatler Awards in Belfast City Hall.
The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust was founded after Kevin Bell, who was just 26, died in a suspected hit-and-run in New York in June 2013.
Money left over from repatriating Kevin's body was used by his father Colin to assist other families who had a loved-one die overseas in sudden or tragic circumstances.
And so far it has brought the bodies of nearly 100 people back to the island of Ireland.
Colin Bell said: "We take everybody home. We've taken people to the Falls Road or the Shankill Road. We understand that people want to get their loved ones home as quickly as possible."
The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust beat off four other nominees to take the Charity of the Year title at the Tatler Awards, where acclaimed Belfast poet Michael Longley and world boxing champion Carl Frampton were also lauded.
Longley (76), whose poetry is admired and cherished by many and whose work has received international acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic with The T.S.Eliot Prize, The Queen’s Medal for Poetry and the coveted Griffin Prize, was honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, following in the footsteps of the likes of Dame Mary Peters, James Galway and Phil Coulter.
Earlier this year he was granted with Freedom of the City of Belfast in recognition of the contribution he has made to the city's cultural and artistic life through his writing over the past 50 years, and he is currently preparing his 11th collection of poems and a memoir.
IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton beat off Tony McCoy and Rory McIlroy among others to be named Sportsperson of the Year while popular television broadcaster Christine Bleakley was Celebrity of the Year.
