Community heroes who helped others in pandemic receive Royal honours
Unsung heroes who kept communities going during the pandemic have been given recognition in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, writes Deborah Anderson
COMMUNITY heroes who went above and beyond the call of duty during the coronavirus crisis have been honoured by the Queen in her Birthday Honours.
From volunteers supplying meals to community groups helping deliver vital supplies, they all did their bit.
The list was deferred this year to be able to take into account and recognise the local heroes and those recognised for their work in communities represent 72 per cent of all recipients on the list.
It prioritised frontline and community people who went out of their way to help others. Among those recognised are a man who repurposed his restaurant near Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow, to provide free food to thousands of NHS workers, vulnerable people and school children. Olivia Strong, 27, from Edinburgh, raised more than £5 million for NHS charities and said it was “really special” to given the honour.
Margaret Payne, 90, who climbed the height of the 2,398ft mountain Suilven on her staircase to raise money for charity receives a British Empire Medal.
THEY were the people who went above and beyond during the coronavirus crisis in their communities. From volunteers supplying meals to community groups helping deliver vital supplies, they all did their bit.
Now their exceptional efforts have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. It was deferred this year to be able to take into account and recognise the local heroes on our doorsteps and those recognised for their work in communities represent 72 per cent of all recipients on the list.
It has prioritised frontline and community heroes who went above and beyond their duties to help others.
Among those recognised are
David Maguire, 62, from Glasgow, who repurposed his restaurant near Gartnavel Hospital to provide free food to thousands of NHS workers, vulnerable people and school children.
When he found out about the honour, Mr Maguire said: “I feel pretty overwhelmed. It took me by surprise and I’m really pleased for everybody in the organisation I am associated with. It was a reflection of what we all managed to do.”
Mr Maguire is made an MBE for services to the community in Glasgow during the Covid-19 response.
Olivia Strong, 27, from Edinburgh, who raised more than £5 million for NHS charities through her Run for Heroes 5km Challenge, said it was “really special” to given the same honour.
She said the MBE is for all the
1.5 million people inspired to run five kilometres, donate £5 and nominate five friends to do the same through the challenge, and the family and friends who helped set up the campaign.
Margaret Payne, 90, who climbed the height of the 2,398ft mountain Suilven on her staircase to raise money for charity receives a British Empire Medal for services to the community in Lochinver, which she said is a “great honour”.
She thanked all those who made donations, which started from £1, with the total now more than £434,000, including gift aid.
“All those little donations have just built up to an enormous sum and it is amazing,” she said.
Alison Williams, a nurse who tended patients dying with coronavirus and helped them speak with their families for the last time, also receives the same medal for services to the NHS, charitable fundraising and volunteering during the pandemic.
The 41-year-old, a research nurse at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, set up her Rainbow Boxes charity at the height of the pandemic after noticing many patients who arrived had no way of contacting loved ones. Through social media she raised tens of thousands of pounds to provide essentials to people who found themselves suddenly in hospital with Covid-19.
Mrs Williams said: “The ipads have been a crucial part of this. I’ve been privileged to connect families at home with their loved ones in hospital, in some cases for the last time. So those memories are very precious for me and I’ve been so lucky to be able to facilitate that.
“I got a personal message from somebody who saw her dad for the last time through one of the ipads and that obviously touched me. That will stay with me forever.”
Commenting on the medal, she said: “I felt very emotional and overwhelmed. It felt very special because it’s been a really hard time for everybody.”
Also receiving an honour is Gavin Price,who was one of the initial founders of Perthshire community group Feldy-roo. Mr Price, who has received and MBE, is the owner of the Fountain Bar in the town and helped to feed vulnerable local people with surplus food in the early days of lockdown. It sparked a massive community response and volunteers came on board. They ended up delivering meals to residents until mid-july.
Mr Price said: “I was contacted about a month ago and had to make a decision on it and I decided to accept on behalf of everyone at Feldy-roo. I have always said it was never about just one person and this honour is a reflection of everyone who has helped as we could not have done it without them.”
Among those recognised in the non-covid section of the honours list are Professor Muffy Calder, viceprincipal and head of the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Glasgow, who is made a dame for services to research and education.
Ms Calder was recognised by the Queen as a “tireless advocate for science and an inspirational role model for future generations of scientists and for women in science”.
A leading researcher in computer science, Ms Calder said her field is a great community to work in, adding it is important for more women to be encouraged to enter scientific disciplines.
“Why not? Just do it,” she said. “It is really clear diversity is good in all walks of life. The way I see it, I’ve been a scientist – and then I happened to be a woman.”
She said the key to getting more people to pursue careers in science and engineering is to “show everybody how interesting the subject is”. She credited her university with providing a platform for her success, adding: “My success is because of Glasgow University,” she said. “It has been a great place to work and really allowed me to flower.”
Fiona Drouet, whose daughter Emily, the Aberdeen University student who killed herself days after a catalogue of abuse by her then boyfriend, said her MBE has come at an unbearable cost – the greatest loss that any family could face.
Mrs Drouet, from Glasgow, said: “There is not a moment of any day that Emily is not in my thoughts – my amazing, beautiful, intelligent, generous and supportive daughter who has been taken from us so cruelly.
“This is Emily’s award because what she endured drives me, unceasingly to do the work that I do. It is her legacy.
I’d rather not have been put in this place but, with Emily’s memory sustaining me, I’ll continue to fight with all the energy I have to prevent the agony she went through and the heartache we as a family face every day.”
In total, 1,495 honours make up this year’s list, with health and social care workers making up 14% while 13% of recipients are from a minority ethnic background, making it the most diverse list after 12% in the New Year Honours last year.
I’m pleased for everybody in the organisation I am associated with. It was a reflection of what we all managed to do