Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Honours for the selfless heroes of virus crisis
COVID-19 heroes dominate the Queen’s Birthday Honours this year, from famous faces such as Marcus Rashford and Joe Wicks to hundreds of key workers who have helped with Britain’s fight against coronavirus.
This year’s list was postponed from June in order to include people such as medical workers, fundraisers and volunteers, who have been instrumental in the Covid-19 effort.
It celebrates the selfless good deeds of big names as well as ordinary people during the pandemic, which saw delivery drivers drop off food and medicine to vulnerable people and health and care workers put themselves at risk to help their communities and beyond.
Among them is footballer Marcus Rashford, who has been made an MBE after his heroic efforts in ensuring children in need received meals across the summer during the pandemic.
His campaign forced the Government to make a U-turn over its free school meals provision and now he is being honoured for services to vulnerable children in the UK during Covid19
He said Prime Minister Boris Johnson recommended him for the honour, adding: “As a young black man from Wythenshawe, never did I think I would be accepting an MBE, never mind an MBE at the age of 22.
“This is a very special moment for myself and my family, but particularly my mum who is the real deserving recipient of the honour.
“The fight to protect our most vulnerable children is far from over.”
The Body Coach Mr Wicks is also being made an MBE for helping children keep active and mentally fit during the lockdown with his online PE lessons.
Mr Wicks said: “My childhood and how I grew up, if you met me as a little boy you’d have thought ‘He’s not going to go anywhere, he’s not going to do anything great’.
“But I’ve turned it around and I really am proud I’ve become this person who’s helping people.”
Hot on the heels of Mr Wicks is Derrick Evans, more commonly known as Mr Motivator, who has been made an MBE after creating online home exercises during lockdown and hosting a week-long workout with Linda Lusardi to raise money for Age UK’s Emergency Coronavirus Appeal.
The television star said he initially thought he was being “scammed” when told of the honour, adding that it was “wonderful to be acknowledged in this way”.
He said: “If only my parents were really here with me now, they would be so chuffed, but I think in spirit they are actually hovering up there and they are saying ‘Boy, you done good’.”
Earlier this week, news leaked of damehoods for Bath-raised former
Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry and veteran actress Maureen Lipman, best known for her roles in BT adverts in the 1980s and currently in
Coronation Street.
Phil Redmond, the creator of Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks, has been knighted for services to broadcasting and arts in the regions, while writer and director Sally Wainwright, who has been behind some of biggest television dramas in recent years, including Gentleman Jack, is made OBE.
Ms Wainwright said: “I’m pleased that it’s come on the back of Gentleman Jack because I’ve been working on that for 20 years and, for me, it’s been the highlight of my career to be able to write about Anne Lister, so I feel quite emotional, I didn’t expect that.
“So for it to come on the back of that, for me, has been really quite beautiful actually.”
For services to music, British rapper Dizzee Rascal has been made an MBE, while hip hop duo Krept and Konan
are awarded the BEM.
There are knighthoods for Tommy Steele, dubbed Britain’s “first rock ’n’ roll star”, for services to entertainment and charity and CBEs for the University of Manchester’s Professor Brian Cox, TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, actor Adrian Lester and singersongwriter Joan Armatrading.
In total, 1,495 honours make up this year’s list, with health and social care workers making up 14 per cent, while 13 per cent of recipients are from a minority ethnic background, making it the most diverse list after 12 per cent in the New Year Honours last year.
Key workers from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities are recognised for their selfless efforts in the fight against Covid-19, including Felicia Kwaku, 52, associate director of nursing at Kings College NHS Foundation Trust, who is honoured for her services to nursing.
The nurse of 30 years, from Islington, north London, supported BAME nurses by delivering webinars during the pandemic and raised issues surrounding personal protective equipment, particularly for Filipino nurses.
Miss Kwaku, who is made an OBE, said it was “timely and appropriate” that BAME people were being recognised for their efforts during Black History Month, adding: “You can’t ignore the fact people have laid down their lives during this pandemic.
“It is only right, proper and fitting to honour them and honour those who continue to serve.”
Of those who have been honoured, 72 per cent have worked tirelessly for their local community, reflecting the huge voluntary effort across the country in response to Covid-19.
This includes 100-year-old Dabirul Islam Choudhury, who is made an OBE after he raised £420,000 for Covid-19 relief while fasting during Ramadan.
He walked 970 laps of his garden in Bow, east London, after being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore, the Second World War veteran who raised £33 million after walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday in April.
Mr Choudhury said: “I feel proud they have honoured me for the efforts I have done.
“I thank everybody from the bottom of my heart.”
Other everyday heroes include Ali Ghorbangholi, 29, and Professor Mark Wilson, 46, co-founders of the GoodSAM app, which has helped mobilise hundreds of thousands of volunteers in support of vulnerable shielded people during lockdown.
Professor Stephen Holgate, Medical Research Council clinical professor of immunopharmacology at the University of Southampton, is knighted for services to medical research, and Emma Walmsley, chief executive of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), becomes a dame.
Meanwhile, Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, who leads the Covid Symptom Study (CSS) app, is made an OBE.
Elsewhere, Tony Gallagher, a multimillionaire property developer who has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative Party and is also a friend of former prime minister David Cameron, is knighted for services to land development and the property business.
British fashion designer Paul Smith, who was knighted in 2000, is getting an upgrade after being appointed to the prestigious Order of the Companions of Honour, joining the likes of Sir Elton John, JK Rowling and Sir Paul McCartney.
The Cabinet Office said this year’s list was the first to have 11 per cent of recipients under 30, with Theodore Wride being the youngest person at 16. He is awarded the BEM for service to his community in Sunderland during the pandemic.
The list includes 740 women, which represents 49 per cent of the total, lower than the 50.7 per cent seen in the New Years Honours list last year, while six per cent of people being honoured considered themselves to have a disability.