A Northwich schoolboy has officially been named one of the UK’s unsung heroes after winning a Pride of Britain Award.

Seven-year-old Ted McCaffery, a pupil at The Grange School in Hartford, was named LIDL Young Fundraiser of the Year at the Daily Mirror’s annual awards ceremony after raising money for Alder Hey following his heart surgery at the hospital last year.

During his stay there in February 2013, Ted realised the hospital’s TV didn’t work and resolved to raise enough money to provide a new one so that the boredom of an extended hospital stay could be alleviated for future children.

And although the six-hour operation required Ted to stay in hospital for several weeks, just two months later, he was able to complete a mini-triathlon, involving scooting for 150m, cycling 600m and running 200m - raising more than £1,000 for the hospital.

Ted, from Warrington, who is now Alder Hey’s children’s ambassador, said: “It was really hard and I was exhausted but I told everyone I was going to do it and I just wanted to stick to my promise.”

At the star-studded awards ceremony, which was held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel and aired on ITV on Tuesday night, Ted was presented with his accolade by pop singer Olly Murs, who told him a private jet was waiting outside to whisk him and his family away for a holiday in Disneyland Paris, right there and then.

With a huge grin, Ted replied: “Back of the net!” before he and his family were whisked off to London Luton Airport for the trip of a lifetime.

And Ted fundraising hasn’t stopped there - as he’s now become the driving force behind a number of similar events that take place in his school.

Ted’s school headteacher Guy Rands said: “I’m not surprised Ted has been awarded Pride of Britain Young Fundraiser of the Year. He is a young man with a transparently kind, optimistic and pragmatic nature who engages really easily with all the people around him, children and adults alike. Staff, pupils and parents have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the variety of fundraising activities that Ted has engineered over recent months.

“This reflects the high regard in which he is held within our community as well as his ability to indirectly motivate others by the way in which he has conducted himself through his own personal challenges. It is richly deserved recognition and warmly welcomed by all those of us that know Ted.”