Frome Festival director, Martin Dimery, has been honoured with a prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts.
Fellowship is bestowed upon people who have made an outstanding achievement to social progress and development.
Past notable fellows include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Marie Curie, Karl Marx and Nelson Mandela.
Current fellows include Sir David Attenborough, Dame Judy Dench, Bob Dylan and Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.
Fellows are distinguished with the title FRSA after their name.
The Royal Society of Arts – formally known as The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the RSA – has been in existence since 1754 and has been at the forefront of social change for more than 260 years. It is an organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges. The RSA Fellowship is an international community of achievers and influencers from a wide array of backgrounds and professions, from social entrepreneurs to scientists, community leaders to commercial innovators, artists and journalists to architects and engineers.
Martin has been director of the Frome Festival since 2008. He is also a performer, writer and a Somerset county councillor.
“The honour came completely out of the blue,” he said. “The society recruits through recommendations and personal applications, but I was invited to the fellowship, because my work in the community came to their attention, which makes it all the more flattering.”
The RSA is based in a magnificent 18th century building in the Strand, housing a library and lecture rooms, which are available to fellows. It helps to fund and foster initiatives in the arts and commerce, established the RSA Examinations Board, and initiated the placing of blue plaques on the homes of famous or notable people. HM the Queen is the Patron.
