Brightlingsea resident Mike Beckett has won a prestigious Director of the Year award from the Institute of Directors (IoD) for his work with Colchester Foodbank.
Mr Beckett took the East of England region’s Chair’s Award, the business organisation’s highest accolade, after judging by a panel of senior directors. The IoD said the award “recognises an individual who has demonstrated real leadership of their organisation and made a significant contribution to the regional community”, adding that it “recognises outstanding professionalism and the implementation of best practice in governance and leadership”.
Since he became chief officer of Colchester Foodbank in 2017, Mr Beckett – a Brightlingsea town councillor and married to town vicar Caroline Beckett – has increased its income tenfold, boosted the number of centres from two to 10 and added over 200 volunteers to its teams. The charity provided meals for over 15,000 people last year.
“I am delighted and humbled to be the recipient of this honour,” said Mr Beckett. “It means a lot to me that the IoD leadership chose to reward a piece of work focused on anti-poverty and sustainability putting those living on the breadline frontier at the heart of everything we do. I can only do what I do because of the goodwill and support of others who put their community first.”
The winners were revealed at an awards ceremony held at the Radisson Blu Stansted Hotel on Friday, March 18, where the keynote speaker was business mentor, boardroom advisor and author Alison Edgar MBE, also known as “The Entrepreneur’s Godmother”.
