Sutton Coldfield man who established memorial to First World War Sikh soldiers made OBE
A man who founded a memorial to Sikhs who served in the First World War said it was established to inspire public service among wider communities, as he was honoured at St James’s Palace by the Princess Royal.
Captain Jay Singh-Sohal, chairman of the WW1 Sikh Memorial Fund, was made an OBE for services to the commemoration of Commonwealth soldiers who served Great Britain.
Capt Singh-Sohal, from Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, established the Sikh Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
The 42-year-old said: “I’ve got a big smile on my face, and it’s been quite an amazing day, and it’s been quite an amazing experience.”
Capt Singh-Sohal met Anne earlier this year in Cape Town and said it was “nice to catch up” on Friday.
Speaking about the memorial, he said: “The WW1 Sikh Memorial was established in 2015, so just over 10 years ago, as a means of ensuring as a national memorial and monument in the National Memorial Arboretum – which is the heart of commemoration and remembrance – there was a Sikh presence, but also it would inspire many more people to take an interest, to do the research and find out more about Sikh service historically, with a view of inspiring public service amongst the wider communities at large today.”
Also being honoured on Friday was Paulette Henry, the co-founder of Black Rootz, who was made an OBE for services to tackling racial injustice in the horticulture and agricultural sectors.
Black Rootz was founded in 2019 at the Wolves Lane Horticultural Centre in Haringey, north London, to “create a safe space for black and marginalised communities to come and share their skills and knowledge about growing, because we found that there was a gap there”, she said.
The 61-year-old spoke to the Princess Royal about potatoes and how she encourages as many people to grow their own food as possible.
Ms Henry said: “It is also created because we’re intergenerational – that’s one of the other conversations that I had with the Princess Royal – the importance of getting the knowledge from the older people, so it was also created because we need to maintain some of the knowledge and the expertise so it’s passed down to the younger generation.”
And volunteer Ken Griffiths, named locally as “Community Ken”, was made an MBE for services to the community in Haslemere, Surrey.
Mr Griffiths said he felt “honoured”, adding: “It’s a bit of an occasion, it’s something special.”
The 75-year-old said he spoke with the Princess Royal about Haslemere Fringe Festival which he founded in 2010 – the first festival was held in 2011.
Initially, the festival was every year and later every other year, and has featured Blue and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and attracts about 8,000 people over three days, he said.
Mr Griffiths is also restoring the signal box in Haslemere to open it up to the public as a museum, and creating a memorial garden alongside the signal box in memory of the 626 Southern Railway workers who died in the Second World War.
He said: “It’s not me by myself, it’s all the people around me helping. OK, I’ve got this award, which is wonderful, but it’s all the volunteers in Haslemere who support not only the fringe festival, but all the other activities we do.”
Nationwide’s chief executive Dame Debbie Crosbie, the only woman to lead a “big six” bank in the UK, also received her damehood on Friday for services to financial services.
