Mark Friday - January Winner
Mark has been honoured with the Good Citizen Award for his dedication to making a contribution to the local community in Coventry through sports. In the last 15 years he has been Chairman and Manager of Ernesford Dynamos Football Club providing support for over 100 local children. His role at the club goes beyond coaching. Mark spends his evenings convening meetings concerning the club, arranging events and fundraisers and dealing with a range of club related issues so that the children are provided with a safe, fun and rewarding sporting environment.
The dedication and hard work Mark has put in to the club is endless. He is involved from one end of the spectrum to the other, teaching older players to be ambassadors and role models to the younger players and giving them opportunities and support to get into coaching and refereeing.
Mark has also supported children with learning and behavioural difficulties to integrate into the game and has succeeded were other teams and clubs have failed. He treats all the children as individuals and believes passionately that football is for everyone given the right support and guidance, never giving up on anyone. Mark’s passion and commitment to the children at the club is evident, his actions justly reflect his character and he is well deserving of this Good Citizen Award.
Madhan Jassal - February Winner
Madhan has been honoured with the Good Citizen Award for his voluntary efforts, since 2006 Madhan has managed and organised the inaugural ‘Meggitt Football Championships’, a weeknight 11 a side football competition for businesses within Coventry and Warwickshire, with the aim to raise money for charities such as Prostate Cancer UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Guide Dogs for the Blind and many other prestigious charities. His time and efforts have allowed many teams to enjoy playing and this has resulted in raising over £57,000 for charity since the tournament started. His management not only benefits the charity of choice but also promotes healthy living between Coventry businesses through sport.
Madhan provides an opportunity for employees from different companies to meet, socialise and participate in a competitive sport while in a pleasant and respectful environment. In addition to this he arranges the fixtures, books the pitches and referees the majority of the matches himself. In the 2017 Championship’s Madhan refereed over 40 matches, amounting to over 100 hours of his own time spent working tirelessly to raise money for the charities.
The organisation of the tournament alone each year is a considerable undertaking for one person with 2017’s tournament consisting of over 60 games, raising over £8,000 for the British Heart Foundation.
It is evident that through Madhan’s voluntary work he has shown tremendous commitment to the people of Coventry, his actions properly reflect his character and he is a worthy recipient of this Good Citizen Award.
Haroon Mota - March Winner
Haroon has been honoured with the Good Citizen Award for his dedication to making a difference in people’s lives all over the world. He is a fundraising manager for Penny Appeal a humanitarian charity set up to provide poverty relief across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the organisation offers water solutions, organises mass feedings, supports orphan care and provides emergency food and medical aid.
Haroon is also an avid marathon runner. In the past 5 years he has completed over 30 marathons to raise money to improve the lifestyles of some of the poorest people in the world. In 2017 Haroon ran four consecutive marathons in just 4 weeks, from Manchester to Paris, Boston (Lincolnshire) and London, totalling 105 miles, which ultimately raised £28,000 to build a solar water power centre to provide both water and electricity to poor and needy people living in Gambia.
Additionally, Haroon led a team to climb Ben Nevis raising £30,000 and embarked on a challenge leading a team to climb Kilimanjaro, a challenge that raised £160,000 for Penny Appeal. It is evident that through Haroon’s work with Penny Appeal and his voluntary work he has shown tremendous commitment to improve the lives of people who are less fortunate, his actions properly reflect his character and he is a worthy recipient of this Good Citizen Award.
Eniiwaju Etomi - July Winner
Eniiwaju has been honoured with the Good Citizen Award for her tireless efforts in bettering the community of Coventry. For over 15 years Eniiwaju Etomi has served as the senior pastor of Redeemed Christian Church of God HGZ in Coventry, during this period she has served as a volunteer with youth offending services to prevent youth reoffending and acts as a role model and life coach to many teenagers and young adults to help guide them on the right path. Alongside the work Eniiwaju does with young people she also works with black ethnic minorities to help integrate them in to the wider community of Coventry, recently working with the Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 Bid team to raise awareness among BEM communities so that they could actively.
Additionally, in 2005 Eniiwaju set up a project called “Free Lunch on Jesus” the aim of the project is to distribute free food hampers to less privileged and deprived families who cannot afford food during the festive season. Since 2005 thousands of food hampers have been distributed to various families within Coventry with the distribution of 650 food hampers in Wood End alone in December 2017.
It is evident that through Eniiwaju’s work she has shown tremendous commitment to the people of Coventry by investing her time, efforts and resources to help others in her community, her actions properly reflect her character and she is a worthy recipient of this Good Citizen Award.
Richard Stanton MBE - September Winner
Richard has been honoured with the Good Citizen Award for his constant selfless acts of courage.
Richard Stanton served with the West Midlands Fire Service based in Canley for 25 years. As a member of the South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team, he and his diving partner, John Volanthen, were called to help rescue the youth football team and their coach trapped in the Tham Luang caves in Thailand in July 2018. The team of divers risked their lives in rescuing the boys who had been trapped for nine days before being found by Mr Stanton and Mr Volanthen. It has been reported to be the most challenging underground rescue in history, with more than 90 Special Forces Soldiers originally drafted in to help.
Richard has been described as "one of the world's most accomplished cave-divers" and in 2004 he was involved in the rescue of six British cavers who were trapped for 8 days in a cave at the Mexican Alpazat caverns. Richard is truly an outstanding Citizen of Coventry and is truly deserving of this Good Citizen Award.
Kare Adenegan - October Winner
Kare took up wheelchair racing in 2012 after being inspired by the Summer Paralympics in London. At school she found herself excluded from sports due to her Cerebral Palsy, but the Paralympics made her realise that sport was open to her. That year she joined a wheelchair academy in Coventry and, after becoming classified as a T34 athlete, she began competing at national meets in 2013.
At the age of 13 Kare was called into the GB wheelchair team as an elite wheelchair athlete and entered her first international competition winning a bronze medal at the Athletics Diamond League in 2014. Since 2015 Kare has won three Paralympic medals at the Rio Paralympic Games and five World Championship medals.
In July 2018, at the London Anniversary Games and Athletics Diamond League, Kare broke the World Record for the T34 100 metres race in 16:80 seconds. She is the only woman in the T34 to have completed the 100 metres under 17 seconds.
Along with sport, Kare also excels in her education. Whilst representing GB in championships Kare missed six weeks of her schooling. Despite this Kare achieved 8 A* in her GCSEs showing her determination and dedication to succeed, just two of the many qualities she applies to all aspects of her life.
Kare sets aside time from her education and busy training schedule to visit schools in Coventry and the UK and also supports local charitable work. She continues to support and raise funds for the UHWC Special Baby Unit, where she was born in 2000, in recognition of their dedication to saving lives and the rehabilitation of young children with disabilities.
Kare carries herself in a manner which defies her age. She is a true inspiration and role model for all. Her dedication and courage justly reflect her character and she is well deserving of this Good Citizen Award.
Clive Benfield - December Winner
Since 2014 Clive has been a pro-bono Trustee and Director of the Albany Theatre Trust, founded in 2013 to save the Albany Theatre which had historically been the focus of community arts in the City. He has worked tirelessly to put the venture onto a sound footing by negotiating robust tenure arrangements from which the Trust’s Vision ‘To promote well-being through Arts for Life’ is being delivered. Arts for Life involves extensive community involvement, regardless of social background and access, to achieve wellbeing, community cohesion and active citizenship. The Albany is an important contributor to Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, of which his company is a business sponsor. Despite his own extensive business commitments, his overall contribution to the development of the Trust is invaluable, and his wise counsel has helped the Board on numerous occasions when faced with challenge.
As a prime-mover in the Chartered Institute of Building, he has been a passionate force for good and for continuous improvement in the service given by the construction industry to society. He founded FORCE, the Coventry & Warwickshire Forum for Constructing Excellence and best-practice club, and is a great advocate for the Chartered Builder Scheme and led the development of a construction industry visualization training centre in Coventry, the first in the UK.
Clive is also the President of the Enterprise Club for Disabled People who have recently celebrated their 80th Anniversary and honoured with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The club provides a range of social, handicraft and sporting activities for its 150 members with the assistance of a large number of dedicated volunteers each galvanised by his enthusiasm. He has been the driving force behind the club which has enabled disabled people within the city to improve their quality of life by providing a range of leisure activities. He has also launched fundraising appeals as part of their 80th anniversary as the charity needs £100,000 a year to operate as it receives no public funding. He has a deep-rooted ethos of service to the community which shows through everything he has achieved, he is a worthy recipient of this Good Citizen Award.