Speech From the Awards Ceremony on the 22nd December 2025
"FRIENDS, RECIPIENTS & WORTHY CANTABRIANS:
As patron of the ENFIELD ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE AND HERITAGE AWARDS, now in its third year, I am honoured to be associated with this visionary undertaking which recognises and brings to public attention the outstanding work of those who have striven for excellence in the exalted disciplines of the arts, science, music and architecture in general.
Up until the beginning of the first ENFIELD award, there had been a noticeable gap in the
recognition of this particular area of the homegrown stellar exponents of culture and heritage, as
historically inherited from the proud traditions of both Britain and Europe.
Our own cousin, the late Dr Glynn Jones, was only last year one such recipient, who had however never been publicly recognised for his superlative pioneering contribution to global physics via spectroscopy research, which involved laser technology. He first came to international attention following his Canterbury University Doctorate on the spectroscopy of potassium manganicyanide, which resulted in his accepting an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship to Oxford in 1960. His research continued during his thirty nine year tenure as Reader in the Canterbury physics department, during which time many of his students went on to stellar international careers.
Sam himself has produced and directed several noteworthy documentaries which celebrate among others contractor-extraordinaire Charles Luney’s contribution to the architectural fabric of
Christchurch, the Prouting Family’s history at Mesopotamia, and his overview of the Chatham
Islands past and present. His ongoing trilogy ‘The Five Kingdoms’ has been enabled and enhanced by a coterie of loyal and brilliant actors, plus the genius of special effects created on a
shoestring budget.
The ENFIELD ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE AND HERITAGE AWARDS, in this quintessentially Cantabrian award ceremony, by which the ENFIELD, the enigmatic guardian creature from Irish mythology, graces the award in golden splendour and bestows its particular brand of benign recognition for superlative contribution by our people, to the province’s overall excellence.
I thank and congratulate Sam for having the vision, the courage and the tenacity to establish the
ENFIELD AWARDS FOR CULTURE AND HERITAGE, an overdue tribute to the some of the hitherto under-recognised but outstanding achievements of the citizens of this gracious city of
Christchurch & the Commonwealth, in which education has historically been held in the highest
esteem, the value of which to the fabric of our society cannot be over estimated."
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