Knighthood bestowed on Naim Dangoor

Westminster Academy is thrilled to announce that Naim Dangoor has been knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for ‘his extraordinarily generous philanthropy to a range of health, educational and religious charities.’

Whilst you see Sir Naim Dangoor’s name on the building every day, you may not be aware of just quite how exceptional his life journey and contributions to society have been.

After building a successful business empire in his homeland of Iraq, Sir Naim Dangoor and his wife were forced to leave the country in the 1960s as a result of political upheaval and arrived in the UK having seen all his businesses taken by the Iraqi government. Having studied engineering at London University many years earlier, Sir Naim restarted his business life again, and gradually with the help of his four sons he created a highly successful property business in the UK. Since then, Sir Naim Dangoor has set up the Exilarch’s Foundation and distributed large amounts to good causes. This includes substantial donations to Cancer Research UK and Age UK, both of which have touched his life personally.

Sir Naim Dangoor said,

“Like many families before us, my family had to flee its country of origin. We left Iraq and found refuge here in the UK. In this wonderful country, immigrants have the opportunity to restart their lives and contribute to the welfare of their new home, as many have done before us. My hope for Iraq, and the whole Middle East, is that, there too, harmony and co-operation will one day become the norm once more, to allow that region again to contribute to the welfare of humanity.”

We could not be prouder, nor more fortunate, to have the Dangoor family as the sponsor of Westminster Academy. Long may we be inspired by Sir Naim Dangoor’s story, which so profoundly resonates with the Academy’s ethos and the values and character traits we strive towards.

On behalf of the students and staff of Westminster Academy, our Chair of Governors, Mr Randeree CBE wrote to congratulate David Dangoor (son of Sir Naim Dangoor); we would like to share this with the WA community.

Dear David,

May I Congratulate your father on the wonderful Honour that was bestowed upon him by Her Majesty The Queen, in her Birthday Honours List.

Apart from this honour being a well deserved and fitting tribute to your father’s lifelong philanthropic work, it also acknowledges the on-going incredible contribution being made on a daily basis by your family, benefiting so many deserving communities and causes in the UK and Internationally.

On a personal note, I know I speak for every stakeholder at The Westminster Academy, the contribution and vision of the Dangoor Family in this community is immeasurable. It is a privilege being associated with the Dangoor Family via The Westminster Academy and I wish to extend my utmost Congratulations and that of everyone at The Westminster Academy.

Yours sincerely,

Shabir Randeree CBE

Chair of Governors, Westminster Academy