TV chef's wife crowned Celebrity Mum of Year

Tana Ramsay, 35, right, who has four children, described herself as a traditional mother who was forever learning new lessons about being a good parent.

Ramsay received the Tesco Magazine Celebrity Mum of the Year award at a glitzy ceremony in central London, beating other high-profile mothers including newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, Emmerdale actress Linda Lusardi and EastEnders star Patsy Palmer.

Asked about what made a good mother, Ramsay, who has written three best-selling cookbooks and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity, said: "It's a big learning curve. It's a journey. It's important to stay close to them, but that gets tricky when they get older and they get secretive and into their teenage years... but just being there, being their friend."

Ramsay, the mother of Megan, 11, twins Jack and Holly, 10, and Matilda, eight, said: "As they get older it's more important for them to spend more time with Gordon, more time with me, and with us together."

The marathon running fundraiser also has raised more than 900,000 for charity.

She supports several charities including the Scottish Spina Bifida Association, Woman's Aid and the Meningitis Trust.

The overall award for Tesco Magazine Mum of the Year went to Jane Gates, from Binfield in Berkshire, who set up a charity after her nine-year-old son, Sebastian, died of a rare form of kidney cancer in 2003.

It was her son's dying wish to establish a holiday home for sick children and their families.

Mrs Gates, 47, was nominated by her mother, Pamela Walters, who told of her daughter's hard work to set up Sebastian Action's Trust.

Since her son's death the charity has raised 1.2m and Mrs Gates hopes to accommodate a 100 families every year when the home is opened in Hampshire.