High-profile Muslims are winners at the 18th Asian Achievers Awards 2018

Influential British Muslims were among the winners at this year’s Asian Achievers Awards, which pays tribute to the best of British Asian talent across the arts, community service, the professions, uniformed services, sports and the world of business.

They are:

• Anoushé Husain – Winner, Sports Personality of the Year.

Anoushé was born missing her right arm below the elbow. A cancer survivor, she is currently ranked 2nd in the UK.

• Poppy Jaman OBE Winner, Achievement in Community Service

Poppy is the Programme Director for the City Mental Health Alliance which is focussed on helping people at all levels in the City of London talk about mental health without fear of stigma. Poppy is also CEO and co-founder of Mental Health First Aid England.

• Hasmukh Shah, Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr Shah has worked in the NHS for 43 years and made notable contributions towards public health in Wales. His passion for charitable work and community service was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List earlier this year.

The awards celebrated outstanding British Asian talent across the arts and media, sports, community service, the professions, uniformed services and the world of business at a glittering gala ceremony hosted by Eastenders actor Nitin Ganatra and KissFM’s Neev Spencer.

The gala, held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, Mayfair was attended by some 800 guests including Indian-born British billionaire GP Hinduja, Deputy Mayor of London for Business, Rajesh Agrawal and an array of celebrities, entrepreneurs, MPs, industry leaders, senior professionals, titled dignitaries and members of the uniformed services.

Other winners at the Asian Achievers Awards, which are now in their eighteenth year, included mental health campaigner Poppy Jaman, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu and BBC News presenter Babita Sharma.

The awards, which first launched in 2000, are well known as the premier event within the BAME community. They are hosted by Asian Business Publications Ltd., (ABPL), the owners of the 45-year-old print and online news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar which invited readers to nominate individuals for consideration in 12 categories.

Speaking at the awards last night, ABPL founder-chairman CB Patel said: “The awards have grown in stature year after year and once again we received an overwhelming number of nominations, which is an indication that the success of the British Asian community in various fields continues unabated.”

“Our awards recognise all those unsung heroes within the Asian community many of whom arrived here as migrants. They have made great strides, not just within their communities and professional sectors but have made huge contributions to British society and the UK economy,” added Patel, who presented a special Editor’s Award to leading NRI hotelier and Chair of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London, Joginder Sanger, for his contributions in the field of business and philanthropy.

The Asian Achievers Awards has helped to raise £1.5million for various charities since launching. This year it is raising vital funds for Oracle Cancer – a leading charity funding research into head and neck cancer. At last night’s ceremony, £100,000 was raised through donations and an auction hosted by Jeffrey Archer.

The high-selling auction lots for the night included a shirt signed by the Indian cricket team, which went under the hammer for £5,000 pounds, and a seven-night luxury tour aboard India’s ‘Deccan Odyssey’ train clinching £10,000.

Leading general practitioner (GP) and honorary secretary of the Welsh Division of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) Hasmukh Shah was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Over the last 10 years, Oracle has invested over £5million in world-class research programmes discovering new and improved treatments for patients suffering from head and neck cancer.

The event sponsors were EY, Edwardian Hotels London, Axiom Stone Solicitors, SBI UK, Sow and Reap, DDO Solicitors, Starling Bank and Education specialists, Regent Group. The media partner was Colors TV.

by Natasha Syed