Over half of Birthday Honours recipients awarded for outstanding work in their communities
Melanie May | 19 June 2023 | News
The King’s first Birthday Honours sees 52% awarded for outstanding work in their communities, with ‘a renewed focus on those who have had a profoundly positive impact on how society faces up to the most challenging issues of the modern era’, according to the Cabinet Office.
The list includes awards for voluntary and paid work in communities across the UK, and recognises a number of charity founders and chiefs, past and present, as well as volunteers and fundraisers. These awards account for 608 of the total 1,171.
Among them are a Director and a former Chief Executive of Tommy’s. Professor Arri Coomarasamy, Director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, and former Tommy’s Chief Executive Jane Brewin received OBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours for their work to make pregnancy and birth safer for all. Brewin was at Tommy’s for 22 years, and was Chief Executive from 2000 to her retirement in 2022. Her OBE follows her admittance by the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians in 2022 to the Fellowship Honoris Causa.
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Others recognised in this year’s Birthday Honours with OBEs include:
- Major General Nick Caplin CB, Chief Executive Officer of Blind Veterans UK
- Gary Shaughnessy, Chair of Parkinson’s UK
- Simon Daglish, Co-Founder of Walking With The Wounded and fundraiser for Tommy’s
- Yvonne Field, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Ubele Initiative
- Fundraiser Paul Harvey, for services to charity and to people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia
- Alexandra Johnson, Co-Founder of both Duchenne UK, and Joining Jack and lately Board Member, World Duchenne Organisation
- Emily Reuben, Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Duchenne UK
- Joe Saxton, Founder of nfpSynergy (now nfpResearch), and of CharityComms, and Chair of PTA UK/Parentkind
Those receiving MBEs included David Warner, the Chair of Local Trust; polar adventurer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Muscle Help Foundation Michael McGrath; Anthony Cooper, volunteer for The Royal British Legion; Winston Elllis, ambassador for BAME Health Collective; Luke Grenfell-Shaw, cancer activist and cyclist, founder of Bristol2Beijing for fundraising; Emma Cantrell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, First Days Children’s Charity; and Susan Dzendzera, formerly CEO of Gingerbread Corner.
Commenting on David Warner’s award, Matt Leach CEO of Local Trust said:
“This honour is very well deserved. Throughout his career David has been an incredible advocate for the potential of local people to make a difference in their own communities, and offered real leadership in helping make that a reality.
“The success of both the Big Local programme and the Community Wealth Fund campaign are a testament to both his leadership and ability to achieve real impact through his work.”
Commenting on his award, Michael McGrath said:
“I am truly overwhelmed by this news. It was very unexpected. As a small, family-centred charity, my immediate thoughts go to our vulnerable Muscle Warrior community across the UK, a family within a family. In changing lives and giving hope, our Muscle Dream beneficiaries who are fighting every day of their lives, are supported and cared for by often exhausted mums, dads, brothers, sisters, carers and others – they are the fuel that drives me to keep pushing forwards. It is a privilege to witness the joy and impact of our work. I take enormous pride in what has been accomplished thus far by so many who have supported the journey, not least my family and an army of volunteers. I feel truly humbled in this moment, but the work and the need for our services continues. This is my life’s mission”.
Awards for volunteering
People awarded for volunteering include Trevor Gomes, who received a BEM for his work establishing a youth mentoring programme which equips young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with the skills needed for the world of work and higher education.
The oldest recipient Joan Willett is 106 years old and received a BEM for her charitable fundraising for the British Heart Foundation. The youngest is Junior Jay Frood (18) who received a BEM for services to vulnerable children.
Volunteer work related to the war in Ukraine is also recognised in this year’s list, including an MBE for Dr Alice Good who founded Sunflower Sisters, an organisation which provides matching services and ongoing support for Ukrainians after they arrive in the UK, and Bristol’s Razvan Constantinescu who will receive an MBE after overseeing more than 4,000 boxes of aid for the people of Odessa and the neighbouring villages who have evacuated to neighbouring countries.
Former Charity Commission Chair William Shawcross was also knighted in the King’s Birthday Honours.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.