Royal honours for three women
THREE Loughborough women are to receive awards in the Queen’s New Year honours list.
Paralympic silver medallist Stefanie Reid, who lives in Loughborough, and Mrs Leanne Jayne Bonner-Cooke, from Mountsorrel, both received MBEs from the Queen, and Mrs Dettie Wallington from Woodhouse Eaves received a BEM (British Empire Medal).
Stef won two silver medals for Team GB in the long jump at both the London and Rio Paralympic Games, and will receive her medal for services to Paralympic sport.
She took to Facebook after the news had been announced and said: “Looks like we will be popping the bubbly a little bit early this New Years! Huge thank you to everyone who has taught, encouraged, supported, and high-fived me along the way.”
Dettie Wallington - who is a cofounder of the Exaireo Trust - will receive a BEM for services to homeless people.
Dettie, 57, identified that while homeless shelters in Charnwood offered a safe place to sleep, they did not help people make changes to their lives that could move them out of homelessness altogether.
The caravan in her garden was used by homeless people whom she fed out of her own pocket, and within a few years she got in contact with the Salvation Army and asked if they would help her take soup and sandwiches to people living on the streets - an initiative she led for 15 years.
Dettie ran the Charnwood Borough Christmas Shelter for three years, and also co-founded the Carpenters Arms homeless project from 2003 until 2008 - that helped several hundred people to the extent that they were able to sustain their own tenancies.
She also co-founded homeless charity the Exaireo Trust that over the last year has helped 12 people into full-time work.
Last year Dettie also won an award from the Prime Minister, and told the Echo that she was still in shock after receiving her letter from the Queen and said: “I couldn’t believe it at first and had to re-read the letter, but it is an absolute honour to be given a BEM.
“I feel like I’m not just accepting this for the work that I’ve done, but for the work that everyone who has been involved with everything I’ve done in Loughborough, and it is lovely that our work has been acknowledged, but I still feel that there is a lot more work to be done too.”
Leanne Jayne Bonner-Cooke told the Echo that she was on holiday in Bali when she found out she was going to receive an MBE, and told her mum and dad to throw out the letter because it was probably just “junk mail.”
Leanne, who is the managing director of Evolve-IT Consulting Ltd, said that she was shocked when she heard the news.
She said: “It was wonderful, I couldn’t believe it, honestly I thought that it was a joke at first but I was over the moon when I found out it was real.”
Leanne, 49, will receive her award for her services to women in business. She established her company in 2007, recognising that in many organisations IT and the business did not work well together.
She wanted to offer something many IT firms did not: a consultant who would concentrate on the people and processes, and an expert who could develop the technology to realise their potential.
Ten years on, her business based in Ratby has grown into a multiple award-winning customer-centric provider, with over 70 customers worldwide with a £1.2m turnover.
Leanne also actively supports women both in and out of her sector through speaking events, and through mentoring and engagement, and under her leadership the business has raised money for several local charities.