Sports Personality 2015: Meet the 15 National and Regional Unsung Heroes

The BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award celebrates the outstanding contribution from those who tirelessly help in the development and running of grassroots sports.

Now in its 13th year, the award celebrates people from around the UK who volunteer their time and effort in encouraging the talents of others, and whose work enables local clubs and groups to thrive and flourish.

Following the nomination period, a panel met in each of the BBC's 15 Nations and English Regions - and a winner was chosen from each area. These men and women joined sporting icons at the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year event in Belfast, where one of them was chosen as the overall 'Unsung Hero' winner.

Meet each of the regional winners below.

East of England - Colin Lee

Colin Lee, of Northampton-based football team Thorplands Club 81, has won the 2015 BBC East Unsung Hero Award.

The 76-year-old, still registered as a player, is general secretary of all 10 teams and responsible for organising all training sessions and weekly matches for around 140 members.

East Midlands - Pete Harris

Pete coaches three teams at Ibstock United Football club and has founded a regional Futsal league as well as setting up a team for children with disabilities.

Giving up his free time nearly every day, Pete also looks after child protection, safety and coaching standards at his club, and has won the FA Charter Standard Club of the Year in four of the last five seasons.

London - Dawn Davies

Dawn Davies has been chosen as the Unsung Hero for the London region for her work with Guildford Saints Football Club.

She dedicates over 30 hours per week to the club in her role as club secretary.

Guildford Saints, recognised by the Football Association as a Charter Standard club, provides football coaching for 25 teams, containing over 300 players, including boys, girls, ladies and pan-disability groups.

North East - Liz Wisniewski

Liz has been involved in netball for over thirty years, and has had a part in almost every area of the sport for the past two decades - from goal-scorer to time-keeper and umpire.

She's set up two leagues in Tyneside and oversees the operation of 90 netball teams in the area.

North West - Carl Eaton

Carl Eaton has collected the BBC Sport Unsung Hero award for the North West region after setting up and running Skelmersdale Mens-Aces disability football club.

He helped set up the team up in 2009 despite the increasingly debilitating effects of spina bifida, and the club now has up to 50 people turning out each week.

Northern Ireland - Damien Lindsay

St James Swifts football coach Damien Lindsay wins the Northern Ireland BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero award for 2015.

Damien formed the west Belfast club, which has helped to tackle anti-social behaviour in the area.

Scotland - Rab Bannan

As a veteran boxing coach from Coatbridge in Lanarkshire with a longstanding dedication to the sport, Rab Bannan has won this year's Unsung Hero award in Scotland.

He has been a mainstay at the Barn Boxing Club for more than four decades.

He trains boxers at the club for eight hours a day, five days a week and also on Saturday mornings during the boxing season.

South - Trish Willats

Riding for the disabled (RDA) trainer Trish Willats has been named the BBC Sport Unsung Hero for the South.

Willats, from Hampshire, has run the Wellington and Dummer RDA group from her home near Basingstoke for 24 years.

Her association with RDA stretches back a further six years and includes coaching and administrative roles.

South East - Steve James

Steve James has been named BBC Sport's Unsung Hero for the South East, for his work in helping grassroots sports in the village of Groombridge.

After volunteering to improve access to sport at local primary schools, the reach of his commitment has been felt throughout the local community.

The 61-year-old was instrumental in raising £85,000 to build a sports pavilion which has allowed more people to enjoy fitness activities, and has helped create an annual village sporting event.

South West - Scott Allen

A marathon runner who set up his own club after having open heart surgery and having to learn to walk again has won the 2015 BBC South West Unsung Sporting Hero award.

Scott Allen set up Storm Running Club in Plymouth in April and numbers have already reached 300 members.

The club's aim is to get people more active and many of the members had never ran before joining Storm.

Wales - Jane Roberts and Nerys Ellis

Farming friends Jane Roberts and Nerys Ellis, have jointly won Wales' Unsung Hero award for their work with Llanrwst Swimming Club.

Known as 'Auntie Jane' and 'Auntie Nerys', the pair who are both grandmothers in their 60s, have worked voluntarily to teach generations of local children to swim and gain their swimming badges.

Their coaching has given many youngsters the opportunity to learn life-savings skills in a rural area which includes many lakes and rivers.

West of England - Cliff Garland

Over the past 17 years, Minety Rugby Club has grown from a small group of just nine juniors to a squad of more than 200 boys and girls, thanks to the help of Cliff Garland.

He has turned the small village in Wiltshire into a thriving rugby community, and has guided more than 30 adults to achieve coaching qualifications.

West Midlands - Alec Davies

Alec Davies has been the timekeeper for Worcester St John's cycling club for 43 years.

The 92-year-old from Worcester, is out on the roads in all weathers to officiate at club meetings, and assists in national meetings at weekends. He has also previously served as an official for British Cycling.

Yorkshire - Paul Jubb

Paul Jubb has collected the Unsung Hero award for the Yorkshire region for his work as head coach of Bradford Disability Football Club.

He started the team in 2001 with just ten players and now works with over 130 boys, girls, men and women ranging in age from six to 55.

Yorkshire & Lincolnshire - June Cooper

A swimming veteran who has held classes for 30 years is this year's Get Inspired Unsung Hero for East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

June Cooper, who is nearly 80, runs exercise sessions in a pool in Hull to help people with mobility issues.

She impressed the judges in part because of her own disability - she lost almost all of her hearing as a child during World War Two when a German plane dropped a bomb close to her home.