Key campaigners – including Kenny Dalglish and his wife Marina, as well as prominent campaigner Professor Phil Scraton - were also honoured at the event.
Having been unable to attend, the former Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Reverend Bishop James Jones, is set to also be presented with the accolade in the New Year.
Hosted by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Roz Gladden, and Mayor Joe Anderson, the ceremony saw families of the 96 people who died at the 1989 disaster presented with a specially designed scroll and a medal inscribed with the name of their loved one.