► Craig David, Natalie Clein get New Year Honours
SINGER CRAIG David, psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and former Community Security Trust chief executive David De lew have been recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours List.
Mr David gets an MBE while his friend and long time manager Colin Lester, who signed the chart-topping R&B singer over 20 years ago, receives an OBE.
Professor Baron-Cohen, a Cambridge academic who heads the Autism Research Centre, receives a knighthood for his services to people with autism. His latest book, The Pattern Seekers: A New Theory of Human Invention, came out last year.
Lawyer and JC contributor Daniel Greenberg is made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, while film producer Michael Kuhn — whose credits include Severance, The Duchess and Suite Française — receives a CBE.
There is another CBE for Richard Ross, chairman of the Rosetrees Trust, a charitable foundation which supported 24 medically-related Covid-19 projects as well as food banks, homeless charities and the National Theatre. The Mill Hill-based recipient gets the honour for his services to philanthropy during the pandemic. He said: “It’s a real honour, made possible by a marvellous Rose trees team, outstanding researchers and my parents who created Rosetrees”.
The CST’s David Delew, succeeded by Mark Gardner in September, is now an OBE, as is the classical cellist Natalie Clein, who is recognised for her services to music.
Re acting to the news, Mr Gardner paid tribute to his predecessor, noting his “decades of selfless dedication to the safety of our Jewish community and also wider society as well.”
Michael Tobias, from Glasgow, a vicepresident of the Jewish Genealogical Society, is also appointed O BE for services to the Jewish community.
There is an O BE, too, for Ed ga rFeuchtw anger, author of the memoir, My Neighbour Hitler: Memories of a Jewish Child, for services to Anglo-German understanding and history.
JLGB volunteer Linda Anne Diamond, who has according to chief executive Neil Martin “shaped the lives of countless young people” with the charity, is made an MBE.
“I feel very humbled and overwhelmed,” she said.
“I have never wanted recognition but wanted to give young people the opportunity to be involved in an amazing organisation that gave me so much during my teenage years and to ensure my own kids had the same experiences .”
Leonard Daniels from Taunton is made an M BE for services to the community in Somerset. Mr Daniels co-founded the Somerset Anne Frank Awards more than a decade ago, which recognises young people who actively work to challenge discrimination.
Anthony Spiro, the Wiener Holocaust Library’s joint president, becomes an OBE while Alan Lazarus, co-founder of the Jewish Association for Mental Illness, gets an MBE.
Carol Ann Hart, from the Association of Jewish Refugees, is awarded an MBE for her services to the Jewish community during the pandemic.
Simon Danciger, who chairs the OSO Arts Centre in Barnes, also gets an MBE. Mr Danciger said he was “delighted” by the news which came “at the end of this challenging year.
“During the first lockdown, we repurposed the arts centre as a crisis kitchen, preparing and distributing 10,000 free meals to those in need as well as collecting four tonnes of food bank donations ,” he told the JC.
Simon Lewis, a British Red Cross worker from Bushey who previously worked for the Metropolitan Police, also becomes an MBE.
“I thought it was a hoax,” he said of the MBE. “I was actually out when the call came through, and got the message when I returned home. Until the letter arrived, I didn’t believe it was for real.”
But Mr Lewis led “our crisis response with precision, grace and humility ,” said Red Cross chief executive Mike Adamson. He added: “During our Covid-19 response, Simon has do used virtual fires, problem-solved and tackled surprises 6-7 days per week, and there is no immediate end in sight.”
Arthur Harverd, the chair of the Enemy Property Claims Assessment Panel — dealing with assets seized by the UK government during the Second World War — receives a similar honour.
Dr Beverly Bergman, a public health physician who heads the Scottish Veterans Health Research Group at the University of Glasgow, get san O BE for services to veterans in Scotland.
The former army general practitioner represented the armed forces on the Board of Deputies before retiring from the army in 2012.
“In the last 10 years we have made great progress in understanding the issues that affect our veterans, especially their health, which has helped us to provide better services for them, targeted to where it really makes a difference.
“As a veteran myself, it has been a privilege to be part of that knowledge journey, and I feel very honoured that my contribution has been recognised in this way,” she said.
Belfast’s Michael David Black is now a medallist of the Order of the British Empire for services to Northern Ireland’ s Jewish community.
The PM highlighted the sacrifices made by “so many” in the past year.
He added that those on the New Year’ s Honours List were a“welcome reminder of the strength of human spirit, and of what can be achieved through courage and compassion. The 2021 New Year Honours offer us an opportunity to salute their dedication and recognise many who have gone above and beyond in their contribution to our country.
“As we begin a new year and continue to come together to fight this virus, may their service and stories be an inspiration to us all,” Boris Johnson said.
They are a reminder of the strength of the human spirit’