THE family of a young mum who fought cancer have told of their pride at her posthumous Tele award as they urge people to nominate local heroes for this year's event.

Jen Shaw, 30, a devoted mother to three-year-old Poppy and loving wife to her husband Andrew, sadly passed away on March 20 last year.

Just a few months after Jen died, she was named winner of the Heart of Gold award at the Greenock Telegraph Community Champions Awards.

It was made in recognition of her extraordinary efforts to raise funds and awareness of bowel cancer whilst undergoing gruelling treatment and caring for her new baby.

Her mum Janet Stewart says it was a very emotional evening but one that the family will cherish forever.

She said: "It's something that Poppy can look back on.

"It means that when she's older she can look back and see what kind of person her mum was.

"It's nice that other people appreciated what Jen had done despite what she was going through.

"It was emotional on the night as the whole family was there - her husband Andrew, her brother, her gran and granddad and Andrew's mum and dad.

"But it was lovely to come together as a family as we remain tight.

"We want to do these things for Poppy so that years later she can see all these things and she can see that it wasn't all doom and gloom."

Janet said the Community Champion gala was a very inspirational and uplifting evening, particularly as one of the other finalists for the Heart of Gold award was Jen’s good friend Sheila Murphy.

She said: "It was nice to see what people were up for at the awards.

"I know for a fact that if Jen was still here she would've said Sheila deserved the award because Jen was that kind of person."

Janet is encouraging people to enter this year's awards.

She said: "The awards shows you the level of community spirit in Greenock and Inverclyde.

"It's about nice people doing nice things and looking for nothing back.

"It's good to recognise them and it's lovely for the families too."

Janet says the family have been overwhelmed by the kindness and support they have been shown by the community since Jen's passing.

She said: "We really appreciate all the help and support we received from everyone - even total strangers.

"There are far too many people to mention.

"It's also nice to know that we are not the only people going through this."

Janet says Jen's spirit lives on especially through little Poppy.

She said: "Poppy is a mini mum - she loves her music and dancing, just like her mum."