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.