A leading cardiologist and the founder of Leicester’s Caribbean Carnival have received one of the city’s highest civic honours.
The City of Leicester Award has been presented to distinguished heart specialist Professor Sir Nilesh Samani and community campaigner Elvy Morton in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the city. The awards were conferred by Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Bhupen Dave during a ceremony at Leicester Town Hall last Tuesday, 17 February.
Picture credit: Leicester City Council
The accolade recognises individuals whose achievements have had a significant and lasting impact on Leicester and its communities.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, a consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital and Professor of Cardiology at the University of Leicester, was born in Kenya and moved to Leicester in 1971. A member of the first intake at Leicester Medical School in 1975, he graduated with distinction before helping to establish Glenfield Hospital as a leading cardiac centre. Appointed British Heart Foundation Chair in Cardiology in 2003, he later received a Platinum Clinical Excellence Award from the NHS and was knighted for services to medicine in 2015 – becoming the first Asian person in Leicester to receive a knighthood. He was nominated for the award by the late Manjula Sood MBE.
Elvy Morton, who was born in Nevis, arrived in the UK in 1958 as part of the Windrush generation and settled in Leicester in 1961. A lifelong advocate for the city’s Black community, she campaigned successfully for greater representation of Black dolls in local stores and went on to found the Leicester Caribbean Carnival in 1985 following racial tensions in the early 1980s. Established to promote unity, integration and cultural expression, the carnival became for many years the largest Caribbean carnival in the UK outside London.
Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Bhupen Dave said both recipients had made a “lasting and positive impact” on the city, while City Mayor Peter Soulsby described them as “trailblazers” whose lifetime of service had inspired many.
Introduced in 2022, the City of Leicester Award recognises individuals and groups who have made notable contributions to the city’s educational, cultural, civic or economic life.
Previous recipients include Leicester City chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaphrabha and his late father Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, members of the University of Leicester team who led the discovery of King Richard III’s remains, Leicester Comedy Festival founder Geoff Rowe, campaigner Pamela Campbell-Morris and the EAGA Gospel Choir.
