A WINCHESTER-based youth outreach group has been crowned the UK's best charity - and one of Britain's most popular rappers was on hand to present the award in a surprise ceremony.

Grime star Tinchy Stryder did the honours as Fixers, a national charity founded in the city, won the publicly-chosen National Lottery Award for Best Charity.

Fixers works with young people to launch their own campaigns for change on issues close to their hearts, including cyber bullying, self-harm and suicide.

Hampshire Chronicle:

Tinchy Stryder presents Fixer Chelsey Jay and charity chief executive Margo Horsley with the National Lottery award

Richard Wheeler, 27, of Chesil Street, Winchester, is one of 13,000 ‘fixers’ around the UK. He decided to launch a visual impairment awareness campaign through Fixers because people think he’s lying about his partial blindness.

“One time in a pub in Winchester I had a girl wearing glasses come up to me,” he said. “I was dancing around with my stick, and she came up and said ‘you’re not blind, I can probably see less than you.’ That can hurt. My project is about raising awareness and education.

Fixers chief executive Margo Horsley, who founded the group in Winchester in 2008, said: “It’s great for Winchester because we started here. You don’t often see things growing out from Winchester to this size, and now we’re a national charity.

“This is great recognition for the 13,000 young people who work all over the UK – they are getting their voices heard and that’s what it’s all about.”