Fundraisers & volunteers recognised in New Year’s Honours List
Melanie May | 3 January 2019 | News
A number of fundraisers, philanthropists, volunteers, and other charity people have been recognised in this year’s New Year’s Honours List, including Send A Cow Founder David Bragg and Hilary Craft, Founder and Chair of Action Against Cancer.
Send A Cow’s Founder David Bragg received an OBE for his services to tackling poverty in Africa. Also awarded OBEs were Aamer Naeem, CEO of the Penny Appeal, Mark Prince, Founder of the Kiyan Prince Foundation, and Lucy Lake, Chief Executive of Camfed International.
Congratulations to David Bragg who has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year 2019 Honours List! pic.twitter.com/X9nXoHpMTv
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Bragg helped found Send A Cow in 1988 while he was a dairy farmer in Devon. Outraged at EU milk quotas, which were forcing them to slaughter healthy dairy cows, and in response to an appeal from Uganda for milk, he embarked on a project, which saw the setting up of the charity. He became Programme Manager for 13 years, overseeing projects in Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya. Today, he is still heavily involved as a volunteer Ambassador, raising funds and spreading awareness of Send A Cow’s work across the UK.
Hilary Craft, Founder and Chair of Action Against Cancer, also received an OBE for services to fundraising and research into cancer diagnostics and treatments, as did Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham for services to protecting information.
Craft formed Action Against Cancer in 2011. Since that time, more than £10 million has been raised at the charity for research. Her company Regency Factors plc has also supported the charity from the outset to keep costs low, providing pro bono support for accounting, auditing and admin.
Paul Okroj, Chair of Scottish Volunteering Forum and Befriending Networks in Scotland received an OBE for voluntary service, which has also included helping to double the number of volunteers within charity Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland.
The Honours List also saw Chief Executive of Hope and Homes for Children Mark Waddington receive a CBE for his services to global child protection, while MBEs included those to Joanna Bostock, Co-founder and joint Chief Executive of the Women’s Sport Trust, and Melissa Mead, for her campaigning to raise awareness of sepsis and the work of the UK Sepsis Trust. CEO of Eproductive, Chris Cowls also received an MBE in part for his services to charity.
Other MBE recipients included Paul Barrett, for services to fundraising and the community in Canterbury, Kent, Graham Drinkwater, Station Volunteer, Holyhead Lifeboat Station for services to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and charity, and Judy Dyke for services to charity particularly Edward’s Trust and the community in Birmingham.
Of receiving the honour Drinkwater said:
“It is a great honour to be awarded an MBE and it is very humbling. It is a reflection on all RNLI volunteers that I have served with over many years and hopefully many years to come. It is not something that can be done on your own.”
RNLI Chief Executive Paul Boissier said:
‘The RNLI depends on the tremendous courage, commitment and skill of its volunteers, staff and fundraisers – and those that have been named in this year’s New Year Honours truly exemplify those qualities. I am immensely proud of all our tireless staff and volunteers who received Honours this year – it is wonderful that these well-deserving people have been recognised in this way, we could not carry on our lifesaving work without them.”
Recipients of the British Empire Medal (BEM), which is generally awarded in recognition of community or charitable work, include Shabnam Sabir for helping homeless and young people in East Oxford, which included setting up the Oxford Homeless Project in 2015, Catherine Watkins, creator of the Vale Parent Child Homework Support Club, and Cheryl Johnson, who set up the charity Remember My Baby following her own loss.
Three British Red Cross volunteers: Margaret Dickson from Sutton Coldfield, Colin Moffat from Aberdeen and David Taylor from Cumbria also received BEMs. A fourth, Lesley Smith from Taverham, Norwich, received an MBE.
Alan Peterson received an OBE for services to charitable fundraising in Wales, as did Helen Bingley for voluntary services abroad and in the UK.
In total 1,148 people received an award. 1018 candidates have been selected at BEM, MBE and OBE level: 358 at BEM, 422 at MBE and 238 at OBE. 70% of the recipients are people who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or paid capacity.
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.