PANDEMIC HEROES: TOP DOCTOR WINS GG2 AWARD
GG2 LEADERSHIP AWARDS RECOGNISE DR NAGPAUL FOR WORK TO PROTECT FRONTLINE
HIGH achievers from Britain’s medical and scientific communities were among top winners at the annual GG2 Leadership awards, held virtually for the first time last Thursday (25).
Dr Chaand Nagpaul CBE, chairman of the British Medical Association, won the coveted GG2 Hammer Award, presented to a BAME person who has smashed the proverbial glass ceiling, while Dr Maheshi Ramasamy, consultant physician at Oxford University Hospitals and who led the adult trials for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, won the GG2 Outstanding Achievement in Science Award.
Britain’s nurses, who played a vital role in the pandemic, along with doctors, paramedics and other healthcare staff, were named winners of the GG2 Pride of Britain Award. Dame Donna Kinnair, CEO and general secretary of the Royal College Nursing, collected the award on behalf of the service.
Now in their 22nd year, the GG2 Leadership Awards celebrate the achievements of Britain’s ethnic minorities. They are hosted by the Asian Media Group, publishers of Garavi Gujarat and Eastern Eye news weeklies, as well as Asian Trader and Pharmacy Business magazines.
London mayor Sadiq Khan, who presented the top award, said, “These awards pay tribute to leaders who have changed our communities and our country for the better. It has been an extraordinarily difficult year. Many of you will have lost friends, relatives and colleagues to Covid-19.
“These awards are an opportunity to celebrate the resilience and commitment of so many in our community and I hope they inspire us to pursue a more just and equitable world once restrictions ease.” In all, 11 awards were presented on the evening. Author and 2019 Booker Prize Winner Bernardine Evaristo OBE was named GG2 Woman of the Year, and Krishnendu Majumdar, chairman of BAFTA, won the GG2 Man of the Year.
An Asian businessman, Raja Suleman Raza, who worked to provide meals to NHS frontline staff as well as those in need through his One Million Meals programme, won the GG2 Spirit in the Community Award. Farmida Bi CBE, chair of Europe, Middle East and Asia at Norton Rose Fulbright, was the winner of the GG2 Outstanding Achievement in Law award.
She is one of the few women and only ethnic minority to head up a major law firm. Norton Rose, with more than 3,700 lawyers, is the second largest law firm in the US and one of top 10 global firms.
Among other winners were Shalina Patel, head of teaching and learning at Claremont High School, who bagged the GG2 Inspire Award; Emmie Narayan-Nicholas, founder of Emmie’s Kitchen, who won the GG2 Achievement through Adversity Award and Amika George, founder, Free Periods, the recipient of the GG2 Young Achiever Award.
Emmie’s Kitchen, next to Royal Manchester’s Children Hospital, is run by volunteers and provides a lifeline for parents of sick children who can be fed as they stay close to their children.
As an undergraduate at Cambridge, Amika launched a campaign to supply girls eligible for free school lunches with free of charge sanitary products as well. Her petition got the attention of the govern