BOLLYWOOD actress and former Bahrain resident Jacqueline Fernandez received the International Humanitarian Award for her charity work in India and abroad.
She was presented with the award at a glittering ceremony of the second annual Asian Voice Charity Awards in London.
The 31-year-old actress-model, who spent a major part of her childhood and teenage years in Bahrain, dedicated her award to Habitat for Humanity, an international charity fighting poverty.
“Working with Habitat for Humanity for the last five years has opened my eyes and has given me the opportunity to help so many people live with dignity, by giving them homes to live in,” said Ms Fernandez in her acceptance speech.
“I work in an industry where my co-stars are called heroes, but to me you guys are the real heroes.”
The Charity Awards, created by UK-based weekly newspaper Asian Voice and ratings agency Charity Clarity, also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award to best-selling author Jeffrey Archer for his charitable work.
“I will treasure this award because of my love of the Asian community,” he said.
The event, which recognises charities making a difference across the world, presented awards across different categories, including charity of the year to mental health charity Anxiety UK and most enterprising charity to South Asian dance charity Akademi.
“The contribution of the Asian community to the charity sector is absolutely huge. The concept of ‘sewa’ in the Hindu community literally means selfless service and one of the main pillars of Islam is charity,” said Rob Wilson, UK minister for civil society, who was chief guest at the awards.
“Innumerable people are engaged in charitable work and organisations,” said C B Patel, publisher-editor of Asian Voice newspaper and chairman of the Asian Voice Charity Awards.
“The awards are our small effort to recognise some of these many charitable works.”