Medical student named “Coronation Champion” for volunteer work
Rising third-year BSc student Martin Dover has received a Coronation Champion Award from the Royal Voluntary Service for his outstanding work with charity Go Dharmic. Martin is one of 54 young people from across Scotland selected to receive the honour, which “celebrates extraordinary volunteers across the country who have been contributing to their communities.” He was notified of the award during an interview with the BBC’s “The One Show” on 1 May.
Martin first became involved with Go Dharmic at age 16, coordinating food distribution to NHS workers in his home city of Glasgow during the COVID pandemic. This ‘Caring for Carers’ campaign eventually evolved into the organisation’s ongoing project aimed at alleviating food poverty across Scotland.
Martin continues to work with Go Dharmic and now leads the group’s Scotland branch. In this role, he recruits volunteers and arranges food-parcel deliveries to schools and vulnerable individuals. This includes instituting weekly food-distribution events in Glasgow’s George Square & Edinburgh city centre for people experiencing homelessness, as well as a mobile foodbank service in the Govan, Glasgow for families suffering food and fuel poverty. Since its inception, the project has distributed over 750,000 meals across the country. Martin’s efforts with Go Dharmic have also extended outside of Scotland, including food distribution to Ukrainian refugees in Poland during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Responding to news of the award, Martin said, “It was an incredible surprise and honour to receive the coronation champion award from Their Majesties as part of the coronation celebrations. It is a testament to the hard work of the incredible team of volunteers I have been able to create and manage across Scotland and beyond to help those who need us most.
“It is not easy managing this alongside medical studies, but it is possible, and I encourage everyone to consider what else they can do to help those in their communities. Go Dharmic is always looking to launch new campaigns – please do be in touch!”
We are thrilled for Martin and wish him the best as he continues this valuable work!