Trinidad-born artiste Errol Renaud was honoured in Australia with the Outstanding Contribution To The Entertainment Industry Achievement Award 2014 on November 7. The award is given by Celebration of African Australians Inc and the presentation ceremony was held at Sydney's Parliament House, in New South Wales.Renaud said: "African Australians are honoured for their contribution in various fields to Australia.
We have iconic African Australians in sports, medicine, law and entertainment. Several others are captains of industry, entrepreneurs and celebrities. In addition, many serve the government and the community in various capacities."The aim of Celebration of African Australians Inc (Celebrate) is to celebrate, appreciate and showcase the contributions of African Australians to our collective growth and prosperity. This is a flow-on from the United Nation's proclamation of 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent.""In New South Wales, several African Australian legends, superstars and icons will be honoured by Celebrate this year. In addition to honorariums, Celebrate will also showcase the luminaries on its Web site and its sub-domains."
Renaud is renowned as a pioneer of Caribbean music in the Australian, Asian and Pacific regions. He initially went to Australia with Amral Trinidad Cavaliers during their world tour more than 34 years ago. Renaud has performed in more than 25 different countries in the Caribbean, Australia, Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific, including places like Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Egypt, China, and Cuba for the Festival del Caribe (festival of fire).
Renaud has released six CDs, plus two singles. His new and seventh CD is due for release in December 2014. He is currently based in Sydney, Australia playing gigs and touring with his band Caribbean Soul.Among the 100 most-influential African Australians to receive honorariums are living legends, superstars and celebrities, icons, including but not limited to sporting heroes, outstanding community leaders and members, leaders of industry and entrepreneurs, professionals, academics and stalwart scientists.
Renaud said that among the objectives of Celebrate are to honour, recognise and celebrate the contributions of Africans to all spheres of the Australian society, including but not limited to: social, economic, political, and community engagements; to establish honorarium and present awards to distinguished, influential and outstanding African Australians; to acquire properties for the purpose of establishing community development centres, social or business bureaus for purposes that supports the objectives of the association; to organise educational, media and community development projects; to organise exchange programmes for cultural, business, tourism and educational exchange between Australia and Africa; to facilitate training, capacity building and empowerment projects for Africans and African-Australians; and, to collaborate with businesses, professionals, government and non-governmental organisations in order to achieve these objectives.