North East champions honoured by the Queen

STARS FROM OUR REGION ARE ON THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST

Reporter THE great and the good from across the North have been included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List this year.

Champions from the world of sport, music, business, charity and the armed forces are among those recognised.

Former Newcastle United footballer John Beresford – part of Kevin Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ era in the 1990s - and Sunderland-born singer Emile Sande were just two of the household names locally.

Nationally, a policeman killed after confronting the Westminster attacker outside Parliament and the heroic passer-by stabbed trying to protect MP Jo Cox have been awarded medals for their bravery.

In a break with tradition, the Queen’s Civilian Gallantry List has been released at the same time as the monarch’s birthday honours.

Police Constable Keith Palmer, who was stabbed to death by attacker Khalid Masood in March on the forecourt of the Palace of Westminster, is posthumously awarded the George Medal for confronting an armed terrorist to protect others and Parliament.

Bernard Kenny, who was stabbed in the abdomen as he tried to stop neo-Nazi Thomas Mair attacking Mrs Cox outside her constituency surgery in Yorkshire, receives the George Medal one year on from the murder.

The list also included famous names, like pop star Ed Sheeran, and Judy Murray. Comedian Billy Connolly was given a knighthood and actress Julie Walters was made a dame.

Sande received an MBE for services to music.

Elsewhere in the North East, the region’s ambulance service was picked out for commendation, with a Queen’s Ambulance Medal for Paul Liversidge, Chief Operating Officer at North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

Mr Liversidge said: “Recent events across the country have highlighted Jean Edusei the role of emergency services and I would like to feel that this award is not just for me. It is a recognition for our ambulance service in the North East and everyone I have worked with along the way.

“I feel both fortunate and privileged to have been involved in the ambulance service for so many years. I was totally surprised to hear I have been awarded the Queen’s Ambulance Service Medal and I’m incredibly humbled to receive such high recognition for my career with the service.”

Educators in the region were recognised too. One teacher who received an award was Lesley Powell, executive headteacher at the Academy at Shotton Hall in Peterlee and CEO of the North East Learning Trust who was handed a CBE.

She said: “This award represents the work of many other people particularly the staff at Shotton Hall who work tirelessly to give the children of our community access to an education that can compete with the very best schools in the country.

“I’d also like to thank staff in other schools in our Trust and colleagues in education across the north east and nationally who have supported me throughout the years. I always wanted to be a teacher and I could never imagine doing anything else, to be rewarded in this way for doing something I love is such an honour.”

Local charity workers have been recognised as well. Among t h e m w a s

Chief Operating Officer Paul Liversidge of the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust guide leader and charity founder Jean Edusei, from High Heaton. Jean has been heavily involved in girlguiding in the region, and has raised over £150,000 for an orphanage in Ghana through a charitable trust she set up herself, work which earned her an MBE.

Meanwhile, economic and business growth in Sunderland gained recognition, with an OBE for Sunderland City Council’s head of automotive, investment & business support, Tom Hurst.

Mr Hurst, who joined the council more than 30 years ago and was part of the team who attracted Nissan to the region in the 1980s, said: “I’m very flattered and, natu r a l l y , honoured to be awarded this. “S u n - d e r - land

has always had a very strong track record in attracting global companies to locate and expand in the city. We’ve continued with that track record and are at the forefront of both job creation and inward investment.” More than 1,000 people were recognised in the separate Queen’s Birthday Honours list, which is led by Sir Billy Connolly, Dame Julie Walters and Dame Olivia De Havilland – who at almost 101 is the oldest