SOME OF THOSE IN THE WEST MIDLANDS WHO WERE HONOURED
Thomas Clutton-Brock MBE, 64 years old, from Birmingham. West Midlands Director, Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre. Honoured for services to the NHS during Covid-19.
His day job is as a Professor of anaesthesia and intensive care medicine at the University of Birmingham. He established a unique, rapid response, ventilator testing and verification centre to ensure that new devices meet standards for patient safety.
His standards and reports are being adopted internationally and his work has enabled more than 4,000 new ventilators to be provided in two months at no extra cost to the NHS as their services were not charged for.
In March 2020, the PM challenged industry to produce mechanical ventilators at scale and pace. Twelve consortia responded, several of which had no prior experience of manufacturing medical devices.
There was no national testing and verification system and no international standards for ventilator design, development and performance in crisis conditions. This was a major potential risk, as demonstrated by a supply of ventilators from China that failed following delivery.
Thomas brought his expertise in intensive care, critical illness, medical devices, standards and education to bear on this problem. Within 10 days he created a ventilator performance testing unit at the Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham.
Karin Qureshi MBE, 61, from Birmingham. West Midlands Mental Health Lead, Birmingham City University. For services to Mental Health and Higher Education.
She is a mental health practitioner and qualified counsellor with over 30 years’ experience in providing mental health and wellbeing support within the NHS and across several higher education providers, most recently as head of mental health and wellbeing operations at Birmingham City University.
The university has a number of students from Wuhan province in China, many of whom returned to the UK in January, 2020, which prompted the need for immediate action by the University and Karin.
She contacted all returning students to check on their wellbeing, offer support and inform them of the Government’s latest advice. She put in place a local track and trace system for students.
She liaised directly with Public Health England to ensure that case details were reported and updated on a daily basis. She also ensured any student affected by the virus was given immediate access to appointments and advice from the University’s mental health specialists.
Karin identified groups of vulnerable students and arranged for them to receive payment from the University’s £500,000 Covid-19 relief fund.
Sally Alexander MBE, 46, from Birmingham. Headteacher and Proprietor, Kimichi School, Birmingham. For services to Education.
Educated in Harrogate before moving to Antigua, she returned to the UK 10 years later and set up Kimichi Independent School in September 2014.
Kimichi offers education with music at its heart. Housed in a Victorian manor house, the school has a piano in each classroom and a timetable with a fifth of its curriculum dedicated to music.
In 2017, Sally was named Innovative Teacher of the Year at the Education Awards. At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she launched a community initiative whereby pupils and staff delivered goods and services to the most vulnerable. She maintained this after schools began to close, as well as continuing to provide education for vulnerable children.
She devised an awards programme, Kimichi School Community Heroes 2020. The scheme reaches out to surrounding areas and asks residents, especially those for whom English is a third or fourth language, to nominate the unsung heroes from their communities.
Julie Elizabeth Grainger MBE, 62, from Stourbridge. Group Leader, Wolverhampton Alz Cafe. For charitable and voluntary services to sufferers of dementia and their families.
Fifteen years ago, Julie started the Cafe for Alzheimer sufferers. She organises and oversees all the activities, meals and day trips – all free of charge and run by Julie and her team of 15 volunteers through fundraising efforts.
The club has not been able to meet in the pandemic but she has been in weekly contact with members by phone.
Julie sends them cards and keeps them busy monitoring their mental and physical condition.
Cheryl Harbourne MBE, 55, from Solihull. Home Manager, Royal Star and Garter, Solihull. For services to veterans during Covid-19.
She has been Home Manager of Royal Star and Garter, Solihull since 2015. The home offers nursing care to the military veterans and their partners.
In 2017, the home was rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, a standard that only four per cent of nursing homes achieved. It was again given that rating in 2020.
This places the home in the top 0.3 per cent in the country. The home is only the 11th nursing home in England in 2020 to reach this level and the first dedicated to supporting veterans.
At the beginning of the crisis, she took the decision to appeal to staff to move in and live in the home 24/7 for a fortnight, including herself. This ensured that all of the 60 residents stayed safe and no residents or staff were affected by coronavirus up to June 2020.
Tim Andrews MBE, of Birmingham for services to charity and the community in the city.
The businessman has been recognised for his work with LoveBrum, the charity he co-founded in 2014 with fellow businessman PJ Ellis to help community and social projects across Birmingham. It has since raised more than £750,000 for local causes by organising and hosting a number of charity events and engaging support from the city’s residents through events such as the Birmingham 10k and half marathon.
In his professional life, he co-founded Birmingham-based signage and graphics firm Hollywood Monster with his late father John and also spent nearly a year as chief executive of Birmingham City Ladies FC.
Atif Ali BEM,
26, from Birmingham. For services to the community in Birmingham during Covid-19.
In his personal life, he is a carer for two disabled brothers with multiple learning difficulties. He also volunteers for Brum Baby Aid, a charity that supports families with children under five who are in need.
He has also been a long-standing volunteer at Abid Welfare since 2009, a charity that operates in Azad Kashmir and chosen by the Pakistan Army as a hospital that treats Covid-19 patients. During the crisis, he has raised over £6,000 for the charity.
Robert Capella BEM, 62, from Perry Bar, Birmingham. West Midlands Police Community Support Officer, West Midlands Police.
For services to policing and the community in Lozells, Birmingham
Robert worked tirelessly with the community, resulting in the successful initiation of the first Lozells Street Watch Group in 2019.
His visibility on the streets enables him to provide critical intelligence to the local neighbourhood police team: as a result, in 2019 over 20 warrants targeting drug dealers, locating and securing stored weapons and drugs were executed and over 200 wanted offenders were arrested.