Today The Argus begins its fifth annual hunt to find the great and the good of Sussex.

The Argus Achievement Awards 2006 celebrates all those people who deserve recognition for their selfless, brave or generous actions during the past year and we need your help to find them.

Children and parents overcome difficulties to accomplish the extraordinary, teachers make their lessons sparkle and doctors, nurses and paramedics devote their lives to making ours better.

Brave firemen and police officers go out of their way to help us, schools go beyond the classroom to bind our communities together and some neighbours do the same.

All these people will be celebrated in this year's awards.

The Argus and sponsors EDF Energy have been honouring our unsung heroes across the county every year since 2002. Every day for the next fortnight, nomination forms will appear in the paper.

If there is anyone you feel deserves an award for their actions, just fill out the slip and return it to The Argus.

To help you make up your mind we will publish examples of nominees from every category along with the forms every day.

Nominations will close on March 17 and a panel of judges will choose three finalists in each category.

Their stories will then appear in more detail in a special supplement edition and all finalists will be invited to an awards ceremony at the Brighton Hilton Metropole Hotel on Friday, May 19, along with the person who nominated them.

The categories are Achiever of the Year, Parent of the Year, Angel of the Year, Courageous Child of the Year, the Beyond the Call of Duty award, School of the Year, Pupil of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Charity of the Year, Good Neighbour of the Year and Local Hero of the Year.

The final category is the Contribution to Sussex Award.

The winner of this award will be chosen by The Argus editor Michael Beard and announced on the night of the ceremony.

Mr Beard said: "We use the words 'brave' and 'hero' so often, but it's only when you read stories such as these that you realise the true meaning of those two words."

ITN newsreader Nicholas Owen will present the awards as he has done every year and guests will be welcomed with a champagne reception and sit down to a three-course meal.

The Beyond the Call of Duty Award will again by made in memory of Jeff Tooley, a police officer knocked down and killed in Shoreham in 1999.

The Local Hero of the Year Award will be in memory of actor Adam Faith, who died in 2003.

Travers Clarke-Walker, marketing and sales director for EDF Energy, said: "EDF Energy is privileged to be supporting an event which rewards extraordinary individuals who have gone beyond the call of duty.

"We are honoured to have been asked to sponsor The Argus Achievement Awards for the fifth year running. Good luck to all of you involved."

For more information about the awards go to: theargus.co.uk/awards