The list includes legendary Hull nurse ‘Mamma’ Catherine Lyon, England footballer Jess Park and BAFTA winner Robert Aramayo
Celebrating the announcement of the Hometown Heroes outside KCOM’s HQ(Image: kcom.com)
KCOM has revealed the nine Hometown Heroes who will be honoured with iconic cream phones boxes named after them. The East Yorkshire-based communications company has been inundated with nominations from the public since it launched its campaign to find inspirational local heroes earlier this year.
Now, after an intense judging process, the winners who will have their names added to nine of KCOM’s unique cream K6 kiosks have been named at an event at the company’s Hull HQ. The winners are:
- Robert Aramayo – BAFTA-winning Hull actor
- Chelsey Dalee and Dawn Thompson – co-founders of suicide support charity Mysterious Minds
- Dean Hoggard – Life For A Kid Hull charity leader
- Jo Kent – Humber Wellbeing Hub founder
- “Mamma” Catherine Lyon – legendary Hull nurse
- Amy Owen – dedicated brain tumour charity fundraiser
- Jess Park – Brough-raised England footballer
- The Santa Squad – young community volunteer quartet made up of Phoebe, Laurie, Ava and Thea
- Jerry Thompson – Hull fishing heritage champion
Richard Schäfer, KCOM CEO, said: “We’ve been absolutely blown away by the response since we launched our Hometown Heroes campaign – so a massive thank you to everyone who took part. We’ve seen some fantastic nominations for so many people deserving of the title Hometown Hero, which shows what a great local community we have here in Hull and East Yorkshire, a community we’ve been proud to be part of for more than 120 years.
“It was an incredibly difficult task to whittle the nominations down to our final nine, but our judges have done a sterling job of choosing winners who represent the very best of our region. I couldn’t be prouder to add their names to nine of our classic K6 kiosks, making them part of our region’s rich history and heritage.
“2026 marks the 90th anniversary of our cream K6s and what better way of celebrating these symbols of local pride than dedicating nine of them to people who’ve helped inspire our local communities.” The final nine were chosen by a judging panel comprising former Hull boxing champion Tommy Coyle; actor and charity campaigner Gemma Oaten; Pride of Britain award winner Marcus “The Hull Boy” Skeet; Emma Hardy MP and KCOM’s own veteran charity fundraiser Liz Carter.
A winning K6 will be unveiled each month between now and Christmas. The first kiosk is dedicated to Hull NHS nursing legend “Mama” Cath Lyon.
The kiosk dedicated to Cath, who has spent more than 60 years of her life caring for patients at Hull Royal Infirmary before retiring at the age of 80, can be seen near her home in Kingston Road, Willerby, outside Springhead Park Golf Club. She said: “It’s absolutely wonderful.
“I can’t believe it to be honest. It’s lovely to think that so many people thought of nominating me.
“I’ve loved every minute of my time as a nurse in Hull and it’s lovely to think that people appreciate it too.” For more details about Hometown Heroes, visit kcom.com
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