Heroic police officer honoured at Westminster for supporting Manchester bombing victims' families

Aaron Parmar received the coveted BCA Medal of Honour for Services to Volunteering & Charitable Giving (BCAv) at a special ceremony held on Thursday 25 July. 

A Rochdale former police officer who was present during the 2022 Manchester bombings has been honoured with the esteemed British Citizen Award (BCA) at the Palace of Westminster.

Aaron Parmar received the coveted BCA Medal of Honour for Services to Volunteering & Charitable Giving (BCAv) at a special ceremony held on Thursday 25 July.

The police officer turned firefighter witnessed the profound impact on the community, both psychologically and physically, of the horrific 2022 Arena bombing, and he became determined to ensure that the annual 'Manchester Remembers' event would demonstrate that the victims will never be forgotten and that their families and loved ones will continue to be supported by the community.

Having built a special bond with the people he helped and those that suffered, Aaron has worked tirelessly to support the victims’ families and those affected. To date, Aaron has raised £170,000 and has set up a charitable foundation in their memory, ‘The Manchester Remembers Foundation’.
 

Read more: Rochdale firefighter to climb Ben Nevis for families of Manchester Arena bombingPublished: 20 January 2020

Switching services, Aaron is now a full-time firefighter but still makes time to raise funds and run the foundation which supports charities set up by some of the families of the bereaved.

Through the foundation’s fundraising, those Charities help young local children, encouraging them to fulfil their dreams in music and sports. He organises charity football matches attracting celebrity sports stars and top musicians, and also set himself the challenge of running twenty-two 10K runs in full firefighter uniform in memory of the 22 victims, this alone raised over £15,000 for the victims’ families.

Aaron was presented with the BCA Medal of Honour by Corie Eldred, Head of Retail Operations from BCA Partners One Stop, who said “A huge congratulations to Aaron on his Medal of Honour – it was a pleasure to present it to him.

"The work Aaron has done and continues to do, to support those affected by the tragic event is fantastic to see.”

The presentation, hosted by TV presenter Matt Allwright, was attended by BCA Patrons Dame Mary Perkins, Founder of Specsavers, and The Rt Hon Lord Dholakia.