Historian honoured in new year’s list
HINCKLEY historian, voluntary sector champion and church pastoral team member Greg Drozdz has been recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for services to the community.
Mr Drozdz, 60, is to be presented with a British Empire Medal (BEM) in honour of decades of commitment to community causes around the town.
A lifelong member of St Peter’s RC Church, where he serves as a eucharistic minister, Mr Drozdz has been involved with Hinckley and District Museum for a quarter of a century, was chief executive officer of Voluntary Action Hinckley and Bosworth for four years and a member of Hinckley Rotary Club for a decade, holding its presidency in 2010-11.
Passionate about the town’s heritage and history, he successfully campaigned for the Hansom cab to be returned to Hinckley from Leicester, spearheaded moves for a memorial to Merevale Avanue bombing victims and pushed for the addition of missing names to Hinckley cenotaph.
A former trustee of Hinckley Homestart and Hinckley Worklink he is currently trustee of Next Generation Hinckley.
Mr Drozdz, who was notified of the honour in November last year but instructed to keep the news confidential, said: “Of course it’s a great honour.
“Clearly somebody knows the work that I do and decided it was worthwhile and put my name forward.
“I have done it myself on behalf of others and know what it entails and I’m very appreciative of that.”
The BEM is presented on behalf of the Queen by the Lord Lieutenant in the county of its recipients so Mr Drozdz expects to attend a ceremony in the area initially before being invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace later in the year.
In the meantime he says he has more projects on the go and no intention of stopping the work he does.
“The most important thing is to keep giving to your community,” he said.
“I hope that I’ve got another 25 years.”
The British Empire Medal was reinstated as an honour for British citizens in 2012 to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.