Kim is ‘shocked and humbled’ by honour

A stunned New Year Honours recipient mistook a call about her gong from the Government’s Cabinet Office as someone phoning from B&Q.

Kim Sheers, from Houghton, who is to receive a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her voluntary work for young people with disabilities, said: “I knew n oth i n g ab out i t until I picked the phone up a couple of weeks ago and the caller said she was from the Cabinet.

"I was stunned and thought to myself ‘the Cabinet? I can’t remember ordering a cabinet from B&Q. And then when she explained I still thought she was joking.”

Kim, 51, founded the Lumley Boccia and Social Group, based at Great Lumley Methodist Church, near Chester-le-Street, in 2013 to provide recreational facilities for autistic and physically disabled people aged 16 and above.

The group initially comprised of herself and her two children, Nathan, now 23, and Kate, 22, who are both autistic.aboutIt now has about 45 members with parents, carers and children travelling to weekly sessions from Sunderland, Washington, Houghton, Chester-le-Street and Easington Lane.

Kim said: “I am shocked and humbled by this award and really it is a group award. There is a nucleus of people involved. The church, for its support for giving us the room for free, and the parents who support the group.”

From starting with nothing – “we didn’t have 1p” – the group raised its own funds to finance equipment, coach trips, overnight stays, birthday cakes and Christmas presents.