A Norwich man has been awarded the title Grandad of the Year in a national competition.

Mike Amis, 66, who lives on Theatre Street, is grandad to six boys and a girl and dad to two boys and a girl.

Two of the grandchildren live in Norwich and the rest, bar one, live in Norfolk.

He was nominated for the award, run by a national magazine and RIAS Insurance, by his wife Kathryn, who wrote in describing Mr Amis' commitment to being a grandfather.

He has taken his grandchildren out on trips every Sunday morning for six years, introducing them to his love of walking.

He also takes the boys to karate twice a week, all this as well as working full time as a director of manufacturer UK Fixings Com Ltd, and having had surgery for a double lung transplant. Mr Amis, a former pupil of Wymondham College, said: 'Norwich is a brilliant place to raise a family.

'My grandchildren keep me young and active. I love spending time with them. We go the beach and Gressenhall, Castle Acre and the the Roman Camp at Caistor St Edmund. I spent time living in Malta, when I returned, and looked at Norwich with fresh eyes, I realised again what a great place it has been for my family.'

Mr Amis' win comes as RIAS launches a report which shows that grandparents in East Anglia are saving families �1,830 each year in childcare costs, one of the highest in the country.

Former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis judged the award. She said: 'Mike Amis was described as imaginative, generous, kind and crazy. I think we all wished he had been our grandad and were knocked out by the fact that he has had a double lung transplant but doesn't let that stop him.'

Our front page picture shows Mr Amis with, from left, Barnaby Amis, aged five, Fraser Amis, four, Eviuta Sokia, three, Cameron Amis, eight, Rupert Amis, three, and Tobias Sokia, six.

Have you or someone you know recently received an interesting award? Contact Joe Wilkes on 01603 772 474 or email joe.wilkes@archant.co.uk