WE all know one — but never shout about them.

But Bolton’s local heroes help to keep the town functioning and now the time has come to tell everyone about the excellent work they do.

Crompton Place Shopping Centre, in association with The Bolton News, is launching a competition to find Bolton’s Local Heroes.

We are looking for people in our community who deserve very special recognition for their dedication, bravery and kindness.

We want to know about genuine, unsung guardian angels, people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, people with special qualities.

It may be that they have shown immense kindness or courage in adversity. It may be a teacher who has inspired his or her pupils. It may be a nurse or a paramedic who has saved a life. Or a soldier who has shown extreme bravery.

The golden thread linking them all is that they deserve to be recognised as real-life local heroes.

Malcolm Angus, Crompton Place manager, is behind the idea to find Bolton’s best.

He said: “We are delighted to have the support of The Bolton News in our search for the town’s finest folk.

“Both the newspaper and the shopping centre are at the heart of the community we serve and so it seems fitting that we should join together to recognise the very best people in the town.

“I would urge everyone to think long and hard about the people in their neighbourhood who deserve to be recognised, who deserve to be rewarded, and we will have lots of fantastic prizes for the eventual winners.”

The heroes will be rewarded with some great prizes offered by numerous retailers in the shopping centre, including Primark, JD Sports, Boots, Scotts and Greenhalgh’s. One of the main prizes will be £250 to spend on any Links of London jewellery item at Beaverbrooks which will be awarded to the overall winner.

There are six categories: ● Community Champion — for the person who is always the first to volunteer their skills and services and the last to give up fighting for their community.

● Teacher — for the teacher who is admired, respected and is there for their pupils even after the school bell.

● Forces hero — for the brave war hero whose courage is an inspiration to his comrades.

● 999 hero — for the nurse, paramedic, fireman or police officer who goes above and beyond the call of duty.

● Young hero — for the young person, aged up to 16, whose actions are a shining example to their peer group.

● Bolton Wanderers fan — for the dedicated Wanderers fan whose loyalty to the club knows no bounds.

If you know someone who deserves to be nominated, please get writing now.

The nominations should include a 100-word description of the person being nominated and why they deserve the award, together with full contact details, including address, telephone number and preferably an email address.

Entries should be sent to Claire Garner by email at claire@ceidiog.com no later than Saturday, October 20. The winners will be chosen by a team of judges.