Honorary Ambassador Of Ashford Awards For Mr Doodle And Jasmin Vardimon MBE

24th August 2023
Economic Development

Ashford Borough Council established an Honorary Ambassador of Ashford Award Scheme to recognise and honour individuals who have made or are making a significant contribution to the development, wellbeing, strength and/or civic dignity of the borough of Ashford.

This month the Mayor of Ashford, Cllr Larry Krause, had the pleasure of presenting two new recipients with this prestigious honour.

The first award was presented to Ashford-born and globally recognised artist Sam Cox, better known as Mr Doodle. Mr Doodle has inspired a new generation of creative Ashfordians (and many others around the world) with not only his incredible talent, but also his kindness, compassion and generosity. The number of people who follow his work is unprecedented and unrivalled, which has helped to put Ashford positively on the global arts and culture map.

The Mayor of Ashford, Cllr Larry Krause, said of Sam Cox: “With great success can come challenges and Mr Doodle has used this platform to not only share his talents and highlight our borough, but has also been very open about the challenges that come with having a creative mind and ambition. He has dealt with those challenges in an honest and heart-warming way that I am sure has brought and continues to bring comfort and inspiration to many.”

The second award was presented to internationally known Jasmin Vardimon MBE who has a truly inspiring career covering world tours, multiple educational programmes, expert staff (on and off stage) and an MBE for services to the arts. This award acknowledges and celebrates how Jasmin Vardimon uses her talent and profile to locally, nationally and internationally attract world class artists to the borough. The award presentation took place in the new Jasmin Vardimon creative studio, which is already establishing itself as a flagship centre of dance in the UK.

The Mayor of Ashford, Cllr Larry Krause, said of Jasmin Vardimon: “Presenting this award to Jasmin Vardimon was a great honour, to celebrate her incredible talent, creative mind and ambition. Over the past 13 years Jasmin Vardimon has called Ashford home, she has been ensuring others get to explore and harness their own unique skills and to change the world in which they live, culturally, whether that be in a small or large way.”

Jasmin Vardimon was honoured in receiving this award and hopes to continue her involvement in developing the opportunities in Ashford. Jasmin said “Now that our home is built in Ashford, our commitment and dedication to our local community has grown deeper with an expanding range of opportunities to take part in, and I look forward to developing these further more in years to come”.

These Awards were commissioned in 2018 when the first recipient, Dr Liliana Turoiu, President of the Romanian Cultural Institute, was awarded in recognition of her work in commissioning the Memorial Statue of Queen Marie of Romania at Elwick Place, Ashford.

The Awards have been designed in the form of a silver medallion to embody the civic dignity that the Award endows and bears the Armorial Bearings of the Ashford Borough Council, granted by Garter King of Arms in 1975. To each side of the Armorial Bearings are poppies to signify the centenary of the end of World War I.

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