Reg Kimber - January winner
Reg Kimber has played a key role in the Whitley Local History Group for many years and in the wider Whitley community. He is consistently encouraging other members of the group to pursue their interest in local history and is regularly found at fairs and open days, sharing his enthusiasm for the history of the area with younger generations.
Reg has lived in Whitley for many years and is a veteran of the Armed Forces, having served in the RAF. He has devoted his retirement to working on and campaigning for a range of local issues in the Whitley area, in particular the memorial to the bomb disposal crew who died on Whitley Common in 1940.
For many years the story of this crew had been known in the Whitley area, but no research had been done to piece together the facts around it - so Reg turned detective and researched the background of the brave men and managed to piece together a number of stories from pieces of information that had been left behind. Whilst it was well known that the men had died on Whitley Common, the location had not been previously identified and no memorial existed to commemorate the sacrifice that was made.
Reg saw it as a personal crusade to ensure this was rectified and that a fitting tribute was made to those who had lost their lives.
Reg Kimber is a modest man who never 'blows his own trumpet' and only looks for the reward of improving the lives of the people around him. He fully deserves to be recognised as a Good Citizen of Coventry.
Matt Heath - July winner
Matt started to attend the Grangers Club from the age of 14 with his grandma whilst she was a volunteer. The club organises activities for young people with learning disabilities. After a short time Matt started to take an active interest in the activities of the club and became heavily involved, offering his time as a volunteer. He is an advocate for young people and inspires and motivates the members of the club, giving them confidence and bringing out the best in them.
Like so many organisations, Grangers had difficulty in putting together a committee. At the age of 20 Matt volunteered to become chairman and almost singlehandedly organised a fundraising show to help the club survive. He persuaded local music artistes and entertainers to attend, publicised the show and hosted the evening.
For someone of such a young age to commit to caring for people who need extra support shows great determination and strength of character. Matt works tirelessly for the members of the Grangers club and is a very supportive and inspirational young man. He has gained the respect and support of other members of the committee and has been described as being 'full of youth and enthusiasm, inspirational and a breath of fresh air.'
Matt has proven that he is a caring, passionate and hardworking individual and having given his time to the community is truly deserving of the Good Citizen Award.
Roger Smith - September winner
Roger Smith receives the Good Citizen Award for his outstanding work on founding and maintaining Coventry's aircraft preservation movement.
Roger founded the Midland Aircraft Preservation Society in 1967, and worked tirelessly to develop the Midland Air Museum so that everyone could see the contribution that aviation history has made to the city of Coventry.
Bernard Keogh - October winner
On the night of 7 May 2013 at approximately 12.30am-1am Bernard received a distress call from his next door neighbour whose house was on fire. Bernard kept his neighbour on the phone and told her to shut the bedroom door and open the window whilst he phoned the Fire Brigade.
Bernard inspected the front entrance of the property but the smoke and flames were too overwhelming to attempt entering. Bernard kept his neighbour talking whilst waiting for the Fire Brigade to arrive, which they did five minutes later. When his neighbour was out of the house she was overcome with smoke inhalation and had to be taken to hospital, so Bernard's wife accompanied her.
Once released from hospital the following day without any home to go to and no family to stay with Bernard took her in and supported her for two weeks whilst helping her to find new accommodation while her home was being repaired. Bernard and his wife also took her to get new furniture for the house once she is able to return.
This courage and willingness to help is a perfect example of the Coventry spirit.