Maccabi GB Former CEO Martin Berliner Honoured with MBE in the King's Birthday Honours List 2024

London, UK – 14th June 2024 – Martin Berliner, the exceptional former CEO of Maccabi GB, has been awarded the distinguished title of Member of the Order of the British Empire – MBE, in the King’s Birthday Honours list of 2024.

This recognition highlights Martin’s incredible dedication and contribution to the Jewish community, spanning his illustrious tenure as CEO of Maccabi GB for two decades.  Martin’s receipt of this honour underscores his outstanding leadership of the Organisation and his unwavering dedication to bettering the Jewish community and all members of it.

Under Martin’s visionary leadership, Maccabi GB flourished to become a key Organisation within the community, using sport, health and wellbeing to support Jewish identity and Jewish continuity, in an inclusive and safe environment. His commitment to fostering a culture of excellence has left an indelible mark on the Organisation and touched countless lives of the employees, volunteers and participants he engaged with.

At the time of his retirement in December 2020, Martin was the longest-standing Jewish community CEO, having served for nearly 20 years. He transformed Maccabi GB from a voluntary youth-based Organisation into a professional, multi-million-pound communal charity, employing up to 25 staff and engaging over 50,000 people annually. Under his guidance, the Organisation’s turnover increased tenfold.

Martin’s achievements are many.  They include the creation of the Community Fun Run, the largest Jewish communal event bringing together thousands of people and hundreds of charities each year and raising millions of pounds for communal causes. He co-created the Streetwise project with CST in 2005, the largest informal education project for the community, engaging 30,000 young Jewish people in schools across Great Britain each year.

Another significant initiative is the ‘Stand Up! Education Against Discrimination’ project, also in partnership with CST, which educates young people on discrimination, focusing on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate. In its first seven years, it has engaged over 100,000 young people. Martin also revitalised the Jewish community's engagement with Yom HaShoah through the Yellow Candle Project, distributing over 30,000 candles annually for Holocaust remembrance.

Martin oversaw over 25 Team Maccabi GB delegations at international sporting events, such as the Maccabiah Games in Israel, combining high level sport competition with Jewish education programmes. He also developed special educational needs programming such as ‘Challenge Tour’ and ‘Enable Days’ and played a key role in the FA and Kick It Out taskforces to combat antisemitism in football, contributing to the 2010 "Y Word" film by David and Ivor Baddiel.

Since retiring from Maccabi GB, Martin has been consultant CEO for Maccabi Europe, using his experience and expertise in supporting the development of Maccabi countries across the continent. A notable achievement was Maccabi Europe’s response to the Ukraine war.

Ashley Lerner, current Maccabi GB CEO said, “On behalf of the trustees, presidents, vice presidents, staff, affiliates, volunteers and participants, I am absolutely delighted that Martin has received this well-deserved honour, recognising his dedication to Maccabi GB and his significant contributions to the Jewish community as a whole.  The success of the Organisation is a testament to Martin's relentless hard work, incredible vision and his unwavering commitment to the vibrancy of the Jewish community in Great Britain. Mazal Tov Martin, from everyone who has had the privilege of working with you.”