Duncan Edwards Foundation founder wins two community awards
A woman who runs a foundation in honour of a Black Country sporting hero has received two awards for her community work.
Rose Cook Monk, 51, of Dudley, who runs the Duncan Edwards Foundation, received the Sporting Heritage Award and the Covid Superstar Award from Dudley CVS [Council For Voluntary Service].
It was to recognise Rose’s efforts in supporting frontline health workers amid the pandemic and running a museum about Duncan.
Rose said: “During lockdown we distributed 10,000 pieces of PPE [personal protective equipment] to care workers.
“We donated food to the food bank and donated care packages to NHS staff, which involved things like hand cream and lip balm for the staff that were working on Covid wards and emergency.
She continued: “We opened a museum on August 16 which we now have extended. When lockdown was lifted and people could come out again, we had such a high intake of visitors. In about six weeks, nearly 600 people came so we extended the museum into another room.
“[The award was for] keeping the heritage of Duncan and the Black Country alive.”
Duncan Edwards was a famous footballer who was born in Dudley in 1936. He went on to play for Manchester United and England.
But he died on February 21, 1958, following a plane crash in Munich, Germany, two weeks earlier, on February 6 - where seven of his teammates and 14 other passengers died at the scene.
Rose decided to set up the foundation and honour his memory.
In February, 2018, a service was held at his former church, called St Francis Church in Laurel Road, Dudley, where Manchester United fans, Duncan’s family, former Wolves player Mel Eves and Rose gathered to honour his memory, on the 60th anniversary of the fatal air crash.
The Duncan Edwards museum is located above Black Country T-Shirts, in Dudley town centre.
