Brit who founded Romanian charity helping children with cancer, awarded by Queen Elizabeth II
Shajjad Rizvi, the British national who founded Asociatia Little People in Romania, an organization that helps children with cancer, has been awarded a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to charity and to the British business community in Romania.
The investiture took place at Buckingham Palace, held by the Prince of Wales, according to a press release.
Shajjad Rizvi founded Little People in 2002 in Cluj-Napoca, and he is also the Honorary British Consul for Cluj-Napoca, and the director of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce. He has also played a key role in helping set up and oversee other charities in Romania, such as the Duke of Edinburgh International Award and the Youth Cancer Europe Foundation.
“It’s a huge honor to be awarded an MBE, I’m extremely humbled by it. Little People help every child being treated for cancer in Romania on a daily basis. The team, staff, volunteers, and supporters have played a huge role in making Little People the force for good it is today in Romania, and they all share in this award. Looking forward, it is very exciting to see the progress the Duke of Edinburgh Award is making in the lives of so many young people in the region. We recently won the bid to host the Global Forum in 2021 in Cluj, a first for Romania. Also Youth Cancer Europe has came into its own over the past 2 years, its lobby and policy work across Europe has shook up the insurance industry, fighting to ensure youth cancer patients are treated as equals in the workplace, on credit scoring and insurance. We’ve made some good progress and I’m looking forward to more work to follow,” Shajjad Rizvi said.
Associatia Little People Romania has been active in Romania since 2002 and has operations in nine childhood cancer hospitals in Romania, in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, Targu Mures and Craiova. In 2018 Little People helped over 2000 children, teenagers and young people affected by cancer in Romania.
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