20th September 2024, Kelham Hall, Newark-on-Trent

On the 20th of September, we were honoured to take part in and be the sponsors of the first ever Irena Sendler Humantarian Award at the annual Newark and Sherwood Community and Sports Awards held at The Renaissance at Kelham Hall in Newark on Trent, organised by Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The award builds on the legacy of Irena Sendler in Newark-on-Trent where a statue of her, designed by sculptor Andrew Lilley, was unveiled in 2021 with the Polish Cultural Institute being one of the supporters of the project – the trophy for the new award is a minature of the statue of Irena unveiled in 2021, which stands in Newark’s Fountain Gardens.

We would like to congratulate the first winner of the award, the highly deserving Bob Overbury for going above and beyond to help support Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia in their homeland. Bob’s tireless efforts to help those less fortunate than himself are in keeping with the values of sacrifice and selflessness which Irena Sendler displayed when she undertook actions to help save approximately 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII, an act for which she was later recognized with the honour of Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

We were grateful to be able to participate in this fantastic evening celebrating Newark’s community heroes and to see and hear about all the other worthy winners of the remaining awards handed out on the night.

Congratulations to all!

We look forward to being back next year!

Read more about the Award winners:

Community and Sports Awards 2024 | Newark & Sherwood District Council (newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk)

Read more about Irena Sendler’s 2021 statue in Newark:

Newark statue for WW2 Polish woman who saved hundreds – BBC News

POLISH humanitarian hero Irena Sendler had her statue officially unveiled at Newark’s Fountain Gardens on London Road after a small COVID-secure ceremony this Saturday (26 June 2021). – Radio Newark