Ranjan Saujani

Since arriving as a refugee over 30 years ago from Uganda, Ranjan has worked tirelessly with a range of community, disability, elderly, voluntary, Asian and other underrepresented groups to make huge differences in the community we live in. Because she's too modest to talk about her very important work with Leicester Museums, as a key worker on the city's Special Olympic Games and now at a children's hospice, I thought this would be the perfect way of saying thank you to her, from the city, and from us. From establishing and running the Belgrave Mela festival for many years, to creating a network of adult education and community courses, she has gone above and beyond the call of duty to become the heart of the community, and our family. Since coming to England, she's always been grateful for the way the UK has welcomed Asians and how, especially here in Leicester, the city has made an effort to make us part of the community. She therefore felt it was important to lead the way in making sure that Asians in the UK and other underrepresented groups mixed in and become an active part of community life. This passion has lead to her setting up and joining voluntary groups for people with disabilities, the elderly, arts and other community groups. She is a pioneer of community cohesion, engagement and celebrating diversity here in the city and a true symbol of 'One Leicester'. I was a management support officer for the Special Olympics, helping to coordinate the cultural programming around the games.