The Atlantic Award Group has one simple goal, to award the extraordinary. Selecting a recipient for one of our awards is no simple task. It requires a wealth of research which encompasses many hours of careful consideration. We receive such a vast array of nominations. By allowing anyone to nominate anything they deem to be extraordinary, it provides us with a unique opportunity to present awards to all sorts of people, all extraordinary in their own way. This award recipient is no exception. It is our pleasure to confirm that our next recipient of 2015 is Noel Edmonds.
On the morning of April 2nd, we received a nomination from a woman in Cornwall. In the nomination, she expressed her admiration for Noel Edmonds. She was a long time viewer of Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal, but also shared with us many tales of Noel’s antics that were not necessarily considered common knowledge. In fact, this wasn’t the first nomination we’d had for Noel. It wasn’t the first nomination we’ve received for a well established TV personality either; but we weren’t going to turn into one of these groups that just presents someone an award just because they were famous. We were not about to disqualify someone who was famous though. Our goal is to award the extraordinary, and there is no reason why people who are already well known can’t be just as extraordinary as those who are not.
Intrigued by the nomination, we began our research into Noel, and the further we delved, the more we discovered. Noel began his broadcasting career on Radio Luxembourg in 1968. In 1969 he found himself on BBC Radio 1 where he covered for absent DJs. By 1970, Noel had his own two-hour Saturday afternoon programme. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to the host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Fast forward through his career to the eighties and Noel was already well on his way to being a well recognized TV personality, but wait, we know all this…
We already knew that Noel had an amazing career in broadcasting with hits like Swap Shop, The Late Late Breakfast Show, Noel’s House Party, Noel’s Christmas Presents and Deal or No Deal. Everything we needed to know about Noel on-air could be found quickly and promptly through a Wikipedia search or a check with the Internet Movie Database; but an incredible and quite possibly extraordinary career didn’t necessarily call out the energy we noted in the nomination. We needed to look deeper into what was so unique about Noel.
Here we had an individual who had been on and off the airwaves for over four decades and continued to be involved with TV and Radio projects that were reaching and pleasing millions. The question was, what was happening in between all of these times? We knew he was a developed businessman, and had an interest in cars which saw the launch of Classic Riviera. We knew he was a bit of a philanthropist with previous project fees being given to charity and other various charitable contributions. We knew he had strong political opinions, notably his opinions about the UK TV License; and we knew he was a bit of a conservationist, making reference to his involvement with the Renewable Energy Foundation; but those who knew Noel told us that there was even more to him than that.
By this point, we were already convinced, but we thrived more, the ‘cherry on top’, and we found that in our common interest, and that’s positivity. The Atlantic Awards main goal as we’ve said, is to award the extraordinary, I know, we say it too much, but ultimately we are looking to create positive change. Our entire project is about generating positivity through the dense clouds of despair that greets us in the day to day news.
Cue positivityradio.world, initiated by Noel. A set of radio stations and services with a simple aim, to enable everybody to live a healthier, happier and more positive life. Alongside this growing service, Noel was writing a book about positive change and how it had helped him develop as an individual.
We now had an extensive background on Noel, all we needed now was some input from an advisory board, but what we wanted was a non-biased opinion and we were lucky to establish that through our North American team. So together with our volunteers in the UK who already knew about Noel, we unanimously decided that Noel was just as extraordinary as the nomination had said and that it deserved to be recognized by our awards.
Project Director, Alex Maine says it like this:
“We knew that as soon as we decided to present an award to Noel, we’d face some criticism. That we selected him “just because he is famous”, but on the contrary. He is famous, because he is extraordinary. While all the above as individual accomplishments certainly account for an incredible success, together they collectively create, an extraordinary person.
As Project Director, it’s always difficult when a possible award recipient comes up that you already have a wealth of knowledge and opinions about, but I was very pleased when we decided to make this happen because fame is not a disqualification from our awards. I’m thankful to Noel for taking the time to be recognized by our project and thank him for his contributions.
While this award focuses on his extensive career in the UK broadcasting industry, it encompasses many things that has made Noel a true invaluable asset to the United Kingdom.”
On behalf of everyone involved with the Atlantic Award group,
congratulations to our eighth recipient of 2015, Mr. Noel Edmonds.