WHO GOT WHAT IN THE QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS
SONIA FRIEDMAN, the award-winning theatre and televison producer, Holocaust educator Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Royal Navy reservist Commander James Cohen were celebrating this week after being named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Ms Friedman was made an OBE for services to the theatre after a string of hits on stage and TV including The Book of Mormon, Wolf Hall and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Ms Lasker-Wallfisch, a talented cellist who survived Auschwitz by playing in the Women’s Orchestra at the camp, was appointed an MBE for her services to Holocaust education.
She admitted: “I have a very sober view of honours when you see who gets them, but it’s very nice. I’m pleased at the recognition.”
The survivor, who carries out most of her teaching on the Holocaust at schools and universities in Germany, said she goes “a little bit further than telling my story. I try to make them think about antisemitism.”
Paying tribute, Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was an eyewitness to one of the Nazis’ most cynical ploys — the playing of music in a death camp. After the Holocaust she dedicated her time to ensuring her story, and that of millions of others, is never forgotten. We congratulate her on this richly deserved honour.”
Benita Refson, the president of children’s mental health charity Place2Be, was made a Dame for services to education. The honour was “a significant milestone”, she said.
“Twenty two years since Place2Be was founded as a separate charity, and awareness of children’s mental health awareness seems to have arrived,” she added. “I consider it a privilege to have had my role in the journey to date and for the road ahead, as there remains so much more to do.”
Emma Samms, who starred in TV shows Dynasty and General Hospital in the 1980s, was made an MBE for her services to seriously and terminally ill children, after co-founding the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
Commander James Cohen, 58, was awarded the Queen’s Volunteer Reserve Medal following 37 years in the Royal Naval Reserve. He said the award was “very surprising and rather humbling. I joined up because my father and grandfather were in the Reserve, so you could say it’s slightly genetic.”
Neil Martin, the chief executive of JLGB (the Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade) was made an OBE for services to young people and interfaith relations. He said that he was “very proud of what it means for the Jewish youth sector.
“Too many stories in wider society and the press are negative about young people, but we see only thebes tin them.
“We work with tens of thousands of youngsters to help them gain skills for the future and get the confidence they need.
“I’m pleased that it’s been recognised so publically, and on the Queen’s 90th birthday… it’s validated the hard work put in over the years.”
Lord Levy, president of JLGB, said he was delighted for Mr Martin. He said: “Neil has been a truly outstanding leader and professional, and has done wonderful work for young people in our community and of other faiths in wider society.”
Sports journalist Anna Kessel, who co-founded Women in Football to promote women working in and around the sport, has been made an MBE.
After 12 years of campaigning for gender equality, she said it felt “strange to be the person who has been recognised, but also really special”.
Though she said that the national culture had shifted towards gender equality, there was still a lot of work to do.
“I don’t think these issues were on the radar even five years ago. London 2012 had a massive role to play, because people like Jessica Ennis-Hill became household names, and people became excited about women’s sports, which they weren’t before. The MBE is a symbol of that, of the increased profile for this subject.”
She said: “When I was a kid, I bunked all of my PE lessons,” and said that her aim now was to attract “more ordinary women to be turned on to sport and physical activity, because too many are
The award validates the hard work put in over the years