Over a thousand voluntary organisations operate in the Manchester area, but only 35 had the opportunity to receive this year’s Queen’s Award/ Queen’s Award. Among them was the organisation Remembering Srebrenica, which was presented with the Queen’s Award for Combating Hate for the Greater Manchester/North West area in the UK on Wednesday 28 August 2019. It is a prestigious award as it is the highest recognition for voluntary organisations. The awards have been presented since 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and the winners are announced on 2 June each year – the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.
This award recognizes the work and efforts of all North West board members to date in combating hate, intolerance and bringing communities together to help create stronger, safer and more cohesive communities.
Namely, out of 35 organizations, each organization had the right to choose only 10 people to attend the ceremony because there was a limited number of places, and out of those 10, only one member was chosen to receive the ceremonial recognition with their group president. Out of 23 members of the “Remembering Srebrenica” team, people of various high positions and community representatives, from the ranks of doctors, police, faculty, mayors, religions and many other personnel who work on promoting the organization, Sadija Muminović was chosen. She is a Bosnian who represents the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Supplementary School in Manchester and who had the honor of receiving such a magnificent recognition that can be obtained in Great Britain with the president Eliner Chohan.
North West Board Chair, MBA DL Elinor Chohan said:
“It is an incredible honor to work with such extraordinary and dedicated volunteers who promote a stronger, more resilient society that uses the lessons and teachings of the Srebrenica genocide to combat all forms of hatred and intolerance.”
Elinor Chohan, MBE DL has been Chair of the North West Committee since 2015. In December 2013, she first visited Bosnia and Herzegovina with Remembering Srebrenica, which inspired her to use the lessons of the worst atrocity ever committed on European soil to help create more resilient and connected communities in Manchester and the North West of England. Elinor, along with committee members and members of the North West community, has been involved in holding a number of commemorative events each year in July on the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, to pay tribute to all those who were killed simply because of their Muslim identity. The main regional Srebrenica Day of Remembrance is held each year at Manchester Cathedral.
The founder-chairman of the organization “Remembering Srebrenica” Dr. Waqar Azmi OBE also commented on the award: “I am so pleased that the work of the Remembering Srebrenica North West Committee has been recognized with such a prestigious award. Congratulations to our North West Committee and its Chair Elinor Chohan. It is a great pride that our network of over 1,200 community volunteers is helping to build stronger and more cohesive communities in the UK. The realization and impact of our vision would not be possible without their hard work and dedication,” said Dr. Azmi.
Chair of the Independent Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service Committee, Sir Martyn Lewis, said: “The record number of nominations for this year’s Queen’s Awards proves that volunteering at a local level continues to thrive. It is a great pleasure to congratulate this year’s winners, 281 in number – all with strong reputations for successfully addressing a wide range of issues in their communities. They are powerful examples of real democracy in action.”
The award ceremony took place at Gorton Monastery in Manchester and was attended by Armaan Chohan, Atifa Shah, Farah Anwar-Bawany, Naeem Ul-Hassan, Sadija Muminovic, Steven Baker, Umer Khan, Yasmin Dar and Yusuf Tai.
