Brainchild of Navdeep Singh Bansal, director of The Sikh Directory media organisation, the awards recognised the special contribution Sikhs have made in the UK in the fields of business, sport, entertainment, charity, the media, service and education.

World renowned Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ji, inspiration for the UK’s first Sikh free school, which has received Prime Minister David Cameron’s backing, presented the Sikh Lifetime Achievement Award to Fauja Singh, a one-time Punjabi farmer who is an outstanding distance runner – still competing in his nineties.

Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ji, the mukhi-Sewadar from GNNSJ Birmingham, also received an award. Earlier this year at a special ceremony at the Golden Temple in India, he was accorded the highest possible honour for his global services to the Sikh religion  and this was further commemorated with the presentation at the Sikh Awards.

The UK’s first Asian High Court judge, Sir Mota Singh, was among the judges for the awards, along with Mrs Harminder Kaur Chahal, Dr Surinder Kaur Hundal, Ranjit Singh Baxi and Peter Singh Virdee.

The awards were hosted by BBC broadcaster Sonia Deol. Founder Navdeep said: “Sikhs have been in the UK for over 160 years, and have made some of the most significant contributions to British science and industry. Today’s multicultural Britain is showing unity in diversity and if we can say that we all belong to one heavenly father, then we are all brothers and sisters.”

The Sikh Awards will become an annual event in different parts of the world. The 2011 awards are likely to take place in the USA or Canada, but will return to the UK in 2013. They are designed to inspire and encourage generations around the world.

The 2010 winners were:

Sikhs in Business

Dr Kartar Singh Lalvani, founder of Vitabiotics

Dr Kartar Singh Lalvani OBE. Dr Lalvani founded Vitabiotics, Britain’s fastest growing major nutraceutical company, 39 years ago developing a portfolio of the UK’s No. 1 brand leading supplements, including Pregnacare, Perfectil, Osteocare, Wellman and Wellwoman.

A fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, with a doctorate in medicinal chemistry, Dr Lalvani has built his business on his patented scientific innovations.  The company now sells its products in over 120 countries. In the UK, over £60m worth of products are sold through retail chains nationwide.

Dr Lalvani’s group employs over 2,000 worldwide with a global turnover of mre than £200m and further double-digit growth is forecast.  Vitabiotics is a private family business and has twice won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Sikh Business Women

Dr Rabinder Kaur Buttar

Dr Rabinder Kaur Buttar. Dr Buttar is a highly successful British entrepreneur and the founder, President and CEO of clinical research organisation ClinTec International, which has a growing presence in the major markets of Europe, India and the Middle East.

Included in Real Business’s List of Britain’s 100 Most Entrepreneurial Women, Dr Buttar is the recipient of several prestigious business awards, such as Ernst & Young Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 and The Institute of Directors (IOD) Director of the Year for Glasgow & the West of Scotland.

Dr Buttar has a PhD in Immunology 1988 from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland and has  received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West of Scotland for her 20 years contribution to Life Sciences.

Sikh Entrepreneur

Jasvinder Singh Sembhi

Jaswinder Singh Sehmbi. Arriving in London aged 11, Jaswinder Sehmbi has has always shown the entrepreneurial instinct. From a very young age he learned he could turn his hand to almost anything and make something from it. Reassembling a bicycle to sell on while at school, using his talent to decorate homes while at college, supporting a family of five in all ways possible, he has shown an unstoppable passion and drive.

Now he has realised a dream with a business that has taken him all over the world. And it doesn’t stop there. His intuitive way with others and constant strive for learning new things and sharing knowledge has lead him to sponsoring and mentoring young hopefuls, inspiring them to become the creative forces of tomorrow

Sikhs in Education

Prof. Tejinder Singh Virdee

Professor Tejinder Singh Virdee. A particle physicist at Imperial College London and at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Professor Virdee has distinguished himself for his contributions to experimental particle physics. In particular, starting with a handful of colleagues in 1990, he was responsible for setting up the worldwide CMS experiment collaboration. This is one of the two largest and most complex experiments in science, with over 3,000 scientists and engineers from about 180 institutes in over 38 countries.

Professor Virdee has been a leader of the CMS experiment since the early nineties.

.
.

Sikhs in Entertainment

Jazzy B

‘Jazzy B’. Jaswinder Singh Bains, aka Jazzy B was born in Punjab, raised in Vancouver, Canada, and is now a transatlantic superstar who has introduced a fresh new image to the world of Bhangra music. Since his debut album in 1993, he has become one the most prominent stars of Punjabi music in the 21st century, having proved his credentials with a string of worldwide smash hit songs.

.

.

.

Sikhs in Media

Dr Gurjeet Kaur Bains

Dr Gurjeet Kaur Bains. Dr Bains is Editor-in-Chief of Britain’s first English/Punjabi publication, The Sikh Times. Among her other accomplishments is hwer work as non executive director at Europe’s largest hospital and she is also governor of a consortium of colleges in Birmingham.

Dr Bains was awarded an honorary doctorate by Aston University. The first woman to chair the Institute of Asian Businesses, she is also founder of British Asian Hafta, an initiative that celebrates the success and contributions of the Asian community to Britain.

.

.

.

Satnam Singh Dhillon

Sikhs in Sport

Satnam Singh Dhillon. Satnam Dhillon has played polo all his life. His father started playing in his early 30s and Satnam has followed in his footsteps with distinction. He is now rated as one of the top four English polo players, but unlike any other player on the same seven goal handicap he plays in the professional sport as an amateur – his full time employment is in the family property firm. Currently, the highest rated Indian player in the game, he is part of the England squad.

.

.

.

United Sikhs UK

Sikhs and Charities

United Sikhs UK. Staff and supporters work behind the scenes for an organisation they feel is theirs. Its volunteers have led 15 humanitarian relief missions in disaster zones; it provides legal services to defend civil and human rights and runs educational and personal development programmes.

The charity’s mission is to provide selfless service to the underprivileged and dispossessed, regardless of their religion or belief, ethnicity, nationality or gender. United Sikhs is now a UN-affiliated NGO with offices in 10 countries across the world, including the UK.

.

Sikhs and Seva

Dr Manjit Kaur Birdi. Dr Birdi is a health practitioner and has worked within the community for over 20 years. She has been deeply touched by the suffering of fellow human beings and has always set out to help them in whichever way she can. She has appeared on various TV and radio stations to raise the profile of health and religious affairs within the Sikh community.

Six years ago she travelled to Kenya to help build clean water supplies and an irrigation system. She has also visited Uganda to set up safe farming areas for families so they could grow and develop their communities. And now she is working with local families and hospitals in India treating illnesses, promoting Sikhi interests and setting up an educational programme for children.

Fauja Singh

Sikh Lifetime Achievement

Fauja Singh. In his age group nonagenarian Fauja Singh holds the world 10,000m record (64 mins – Lahore Marathon January 2005), and Half Marathon (2 hrs 29 mins and 59 secs) and Marathon records (5 hrs 40 mins and 1 sec), set at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September 2004 and September 2003 respectively.

At one event, Fauja Singh, 94, was to run 100m, 200m, 400m, the mile and 1500m, and a 3,000m continuing on to finish with the 5000m. Six races covering eight distances in a time limit of 94 mins. Impossible? Nothing is impossible for the ex-farmer from the Punjab! Fauja Singh clocked 19.97 for the 100. In the 200m he obliterated the UK M90 age group record, clocking an amazing 45.13sec. The 400m he covered in 1.49.28sec, to become the first of is age in Briton ever to contest this distance.

Guest speakers and presenters travelled from all over the world for the awards, They included Gurbaksh Singh Chahal, one of America’s top innovators who has starred on Fox’s The Secret Millionaire and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Others attending were Roop Singh who promotes Sikh Awareness and is based in Leeds, Vic Singh Sethi who runs Anand International in Leicester, Sukshinder Singh Shinda, a bhangra singer-songwriter from Birmingham, Mrs Sandip Kaur Verma, who is the first female Sikh Baroness in waiting to the Queen, and comes from Wolverhampton, film director Mrs Gurinder Kaur Chada from London, and Harbinder Singh Rana, the chairman of ASHT Walsall.

The first recorded Sikh settler in Britain was in 1849. Since the migration from the Punjab in the 1950s, the UK Sikh population has grown to 750,000. Sikhs have become one of the most successful and affluent communities in Britain.

To help consumers easily find Sikh businesses and suppliers, The Sikh Directory Ltd has compiled the very first directory of Sikh Businesses and Sikh Organisations, throughout the UK. It is the only one of its kind in book format with an electronic version on the internet.

This unique directory is researched, designed, compiled and published to the highest standards and quality by Sikhs for Sikhs.

Sikhs Online is supporting The Sikh Directory achieve it’s goals.

So if you’re looking to advertise your business in the The Sikh Directory or would like to order your FREE copy, please visit their website: www.TheSikhDirectory.co.uk