A new awards scheme has been launched to recognise the contribution made by individuals and organisations to the promotion of a multicultural Scotland.
They will be called the Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Awards for Multicultural Scotland and will be presented every two years with the first ceremony being held in Dundee in the spring of 2005.
The scheme will include one major award with a cash prize of £1000 combined with seven smaller awards that will each receive £500. In addition all winners will be presented with a certificate. Lord Elder, the Chancellor of the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies stated on Monday 24th May on the day these awards were announced in Edinburgh that, “We are delighted that Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum has agreed to sponsor this new initiative. The awards will be a major event in the development of a multicultural Scottish society”. He also added, “The Institute strongly endorses the Scottish Executive’s campaign for ‘One Scotland, Many Cultures.’”
The main award will be given to the individual who, in the opinion of the judges, has made a major contribution to contemporary Scotland. The smaller awards will cover multicultural education, healthcare, the media, sport, civilisational dialogue, Scottish-Emirates relations and Arab-British understanding. Deputy Minister for Communities, Mary Mulligan MSP stated on this occasion, “I welcome today’s launch of the Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Awards and we are pleased to support this celebration of our multicultural, multi-faith society”.
Professor El-Awaisi also stated “The introduction of these awards is a major development in helping to create a multicultural Scottish society. We hope to attract many entries from individuals and organisations and look forward to the first awards ceremony in Dundee next year.”
