Decades of tireless dedication

Michael Briggs MBE was honoured for services to the voluntary sector and community.

East Belfast community worker Michael Briggs has worked tirelessly to help other people since the ‘80s, but he got the surprise of his life when he was awarded an MBE.

Michael, is executive director of East Belfast Community Development Agency, which supports groups in the area. “Even though we’ve hardly moved out of the office this year, it’s all been pretty busy,” says Michael, 57. “We’ve been managing our Covid-19 programme, buying bulk food to get out to the groups that we support. We developed a network of groups in East Belfast that have been delivering small packages to people who are vulnerable, shielding or in financial need. We’ve also been providing practical help, so we set up a helpline managed by volunteers for people who’d been furloughed and suddenly become unemployed.”

It’s a rewarding job and one that’s much needed during the pandemic. “One local group identified a family in need and took them a delivery of food just before Christmas and the woman broke down in tears,” says Michael. “Her partner had lost his job at the start of the pandemic and then they lost their house. She’d continued to work on, but they weren’t making ends meet. They wondered how they’d get through Christmas and then this person turned up with a huge food parcel for them.” Michael is humbled by his MBE. “For me, it’s about the efforts of other people as well,” he says. “I’m the one who ends up getting the award, but other people have been involved in the success of my work.”