New Year's Honours: Rewards for region's community and paralympic heroes
The unsung heroes of the West Midlands have received royal recognition in the New Year Honours list.
People who have supported their communities during the coronavirus pandemic dominate the list of those recognised by the Queen.
There are also honours for stars of the paralympics, and those who have achieved remarkable things campaigning for the disadvantaged.
Lianne Al-Khadi, who organised the production of 3,500 items of protective equipment for NHS and care workers across the West Midlands from her kitchen table, receives a BEM for her efforts.
After responding to an appeal on Facebook, the mother-of-four from Stafford expanded her operation to include a team of 35 volunteers.
Professor Helen Jayne Stokes-Lampard, from Tamworth, has been awarded a Damehood (DBE) for services to general practice. She is the chair of the Medical Royal Colleges and chair of the National Academy of Social Prescribing.
Laura Manning Shoaf, of Kinver, has received a CBE for services to the economic regeneration of the West Midlands in her role as managing director of Transport for West Midlands.
Staffordshire Olympian Adam Peaty, from Uttoxeter, currently an MBE, has been made an OBE for services to swimming alongside Welsh paralympian Aled Davies, currently an MBE, who receives an OBE for services to athletics.
And they were joined by Andrew Lovett, the director and chief executive of the popular Black Country Living Museum, for services to cultural heritage particularly during Covid-19.
Stourbridge solicitor Richard Port, Louise Rhodes and Clare Dickens of Wolverhampton University, Paralympians Tully Kearney and Chris Skelley, and Bridgnorth Rugby Club chairman Karen Sawbridge become MBEs, along with Zulkifl Ahmed from Walsall who is honoured for his work with young people and Patrick Nyarumbu, of Stafford, for services to nursing.
Kate Beale, from Coseley, Emily Doorbar from Cavershall, Staffordshire, and Gulam Teladi, Adill Hadi and Isobel Knowles, all from Birmingham, and Lianne Jayne Al-Khaldi from Stafford all receive the BEM for their work during the pandemic.
There are honours for two members of staff at Wolverhampton University, who were both appointed MBEs.
Louise Rhodes, 57, from Wednesfield, is honoured for her work with deaf students at the university, acting as a sign-language interpreter in lectures and helping them communicate with staff and fellow students.
“This is such an amazing honour and I’m immensely proud, it means so much that my work has been recognised in this way,” she said.
Nursing lecturer Clare Dickens is recognised for services to education and improving suicide awareness.
Mrs Dickens, 38 and from Wolverhampton, led the development of an award-winning programme to help tackle issues surrounding suicide, self-harm, and emotional resilience.
She said she was “absolutely flabbergasted” when she received the news, adding: “In some ways, I am just doing my job, but it is a lot of hours and there are a lot of grey hairs to show for it.
“I am incredibly humbled to receive this honour, and this is one of the many signposts in my nursing and academic career where I have reflected on who has shaped my life, offering their support and guidance, and who has lifted me as they climb."
Supported by her team, Mrs Dickens developed a strategy called Three Minutes to Save a Life. As a result of her work, more than 2,000 students and staff have since been trained to recognise the early warning signs of students who are at-risk. Mrs Dickens is also chairman of Wolverhampton’s suicide prevention forum, which has seen a 40 per cent drop in the number of suicides in the city.
Another former staff member from the university, Professor Nazira Karodia, has also been made an MBE for her contribution to the chemical sciences.
Richard Port, a solicitor with Cradley Heath based George Green & Co, is also appointed an MBE for services to victims of domestic abuse.
Mr Port, 30, from Stourbridge, said one of his cases made him realise that many solicitors lacked training in family law and legal aid. It prompted him to create a training programme in his spare time so his colleagues would be equipped to help victims of domestic abuse access legal services.
He also created a phone line where domestic abuse organisations could contact him directly. During the coronavirus pandemic he took his service online, providing training across the UK. His work also saw him elected to the Birmingham Law Society Council.
Paralympian medal-winner Tully Kearney, 24, from Aldridge, becomes an MBE for services to swimming.
Miss Kearney won gold and silver swimming medals in Tokyo, having missed out due to injury in 2016.
Despite these issues she took home the gold medal for the women’s 100m freestyle, breaking the world record in the process, and won silver in the women's 200m final.
Another gold–winning paralympian, 28-year-old Chris Skelley, is appointed an MBE for services to judo. Chris, who trains at the British Judo Centre of Excellence in Walsall, has been ranked world No. 1 in the sport since 2019.
At Tokyo 2020, his second Paralympic Games, he beat the USA’s Ben Goodrich in the men’s B2–100kg final to win gold.
He said: “Receiving an MBE is a huge honour – I didn’t expect to receive one, I do Judo because I love doing Judo and it saved me from the darkest period in my life.
“I still can’t believe it, I’m on cloud nine and it feels so amazing. It’s a huge honour to represent British Judo and Paralympics GB and I can’t put into words how much it means to be recognised.”
Karen Sawbridge, 56, from Bridgnorth, becomes an MBE for her role as chairman of the town’s rugby club. Bridgnorth RFC has grown into one of the town’s most important voluntary organisations.
Mrs Sawbridge has also overseen a transformation in the club’s finances, generating vital income through the purchase of the club’s marquee. It has proved vital throughout the pandemic, providing a venue for a number organisations. She said: “I am thrilled but I was also a bit bemused, I never expected my efforts to be recognised in this way. We just do it because it is the right thing to do.”
Zulkifl Ahmed, 32, from Walsall, is appointed an MBE for services to education and to young people.
He is credited with transforming Sandwell’s struggling special educational needs and disability services. He now works for Worcestershire County Council which has also made significant progress since he arrived.
Kate Beale, 44, from Coseley, has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the communities of Dudley and Sandwell. She set up Just Straight Talk in 2012, a community organisation to help 16-25-year-olds turn their lives around.
Mrs Beale said: “I am humbled by people and communities across Dudley and Sandwell, and worked hard to support them to lead better lives, which have made the sacrifices worthwhile.”
Emily Doorbar, a 36-year-old customer service manager at Staffordshire County Council, receives a BEM for her work setting up a successful contact tracing system during the pandemic. The system she set up had the highest success rate in the West Midlands.
Rose Cook Monk, from Dudley, received a BEM for services to the community in Dudley.
Roll of honour
Office of the Order of the British Empire (OBE):
Staffordshire Olympian Adam Peaty MBE has been made an OBE for services to swimming
Welsh Paralympian Aled Davies MBE has been awarded an OBE for services to athletics
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE):
Richard Port, from Stourbridge, for services to victims of domestic abuse
Louise Rhodes, from Wolverhampton, for services to education and to people with hearing impairments
Clare Dickens, from Wolverhampton, for services to education and improving suicide awareness
Paralympian Tully Kearney, from Walsall, for services to swimming
Paralympian Christopher Skelley, who lives in Walsall, for services to judo
Zulkifl Ahmed, from Walsall, for services to education and to young people
Maxine Espley, from Sutton Coldfield, for services to health and social care
Royal Shakespeare Company’s Jacqueline O’Hanlon, from Birmingham, for services to the arts
Olympian Oliver Townend, from Ellesmere in Shropshire, for services to equestrianism
Great Britain wheelchair rugby head coach Paul Shaw, from Birmingham, for services to wheelchair rugby
Olympic boxer Galal Yafai, from Solihull, for services to boxing
Lynne Baird, from Birmingham, for charitable service
Seamus Gaynor, from Sutton Coldfield, for services to children’s social care and education
Karen Sawbridge, from Bridgnorth, for her role as chairman of the Bridgnorth Rugby Club
British Empire Medal (BEM):
Kate Beale, from Coseley, for services to the communities of Dudley and Sandwell particularly during Covid-19
Emily Doorbar, from Cavershall in Staffordshire, for her work setting up a hugely successful contact tracing system during the pandemic
Gulam Teladia, from Birmingham, for for services to the community in Birmingham particularly during Covid-19
Adill Hadi, from Birmingham, for services to vulnerable young people during Covid-19
Isobel Knowles, from Birmingham for services to the community in Moseley, Birmingham, particularly during Covid-19
