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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Eleanor Dye & Tom Scotson

11 Merseyside heroes nominated for Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022

Each year the Queen rewards ordinary people who have shown service with gifts or titles.

The best known ones are MBEs, OBEs and CBEs. Honours are awarded to mark the Queen’s official birthday (the second Saturday in June).

Anyone can make a recommendation for someone to receive an honour, shining a light on the achievements of those who are not in the public eye.

READ MORE: 'Insulted' Beatles member who turned down honour from the Queen

Here is a list of 11 of those who will receive one in Merseyside:

Marie Savin-Bonsall

Marie Savin-Bonsall earned a nomination for helping to transform an old school that was set to be demolished into a thriving community centre.

The 58-year-old from Netherton has been the manager at Netherton Park Neighbourhood Centre in Sefton for almost 35 years and has worked tirelessly to help the community. She was a volunteer for 22 years and now manages the whole building.

Marie told the ECHO: “I’m really overwhelmed to be nominated. It is a lovely honour and I really appreciate it but I never expected it.”

Marie helped to set up the centre and began activities such as social groups, childcare, savings schemes, a clothing exchange and a healthy eating cafe. She said the community centre has helped bring the locals together and encouraged people to move to the area.

Marie Savin-Bonsall (Handout)

Her work has been invaluable for the Netherton community, which experiences high levels of poverty, social isolation and intergenerational unemployment. Her work during the pandemic included helping to provide 11,000 meals to 500 households, including cooked meals and food boxes she made herself.

This provided crucial help to those who were extremely clinically vulnerable – including children and families with additional support needs and isolated younger and older people. On VE Day she delivered cream teas to help people celebrate, while remaining socially distanced.

Her other work includes calling those who are socially isolated, mediating between young people and gangs, helping those in crisis and working with 40 families where child protection plans are in place.

Lisa Carmody

Lisa Carmody (Handout)

Lisa Carmody goes above and beyond her role as a community support worker and training manager at Quartz Care to help those in need.

She has made a huge difference to her clients, some of whom misuse substances, have poor mental health, are from low socio-economic backgrounds and have spent much of their lives in prison.

Lisa, from Anfield, said: “I’m over the moon to be getting this award. I love what I do and enjoy helping people and making their lives a little bit better every day.

“It also helps that I work for an amazing care company with great training and staff support.”

The 38-year-old has even helped plan a funeral for a client and works with them at a comfortable pace, sitting outside one person’s house for weeks until they began to trust her. Lisa, from Liverpool, helps people with building life skills such as cooking, cleaning, personal care and household management.

Derek Brian Rigby

Derek Brian Rigby, known as Brian, began a children’s football league and has been dedicated to the scouts since he was seven – and he is now 63.

Brian, who lives in Maghull, is cub scout leader and football coach at St Thomas Lydiate Football Club. He went through the scouts from cub to Venture Scout and got the Venture award.

Brain told the ECHO: “I’m very pleased to be nominated! It’s hard at times because I’m a bus driver so I work Sundays so I can have Saturdays off for training. But I love what I do.”

The football club ranges from ages four to 17 and has 12 teams.

Brian is dedicated to the teams as he turns up for training “no matter the weather” and runs the club in his spare time alongside his full-time job as a bus driver. The children from the first team he started have now brought their own children to join the football club.

William John Cadman

John Cadman (Handout)

William John Cadman, known as John, has helped lead the scouts for over 50 years, supporting 10,000 people in 145 communities across Merseyside.

John, 69 is the deputy county commissioner of Merseyside scouts after starting as a scout leader in 1971. He then took on responsibility for Sefton and for the whole of Merseyside.

He told the ECHO: "I'm overwhelmed to be nominated and that people think I'm worthy. I'm humbled and pleasantly surprised too!"

John, from Southport, created the “Explorer Belt” award for which he has led 107 adventures overseas for 2,213 people, allowing them to experience other cultures and make choices with responsibility.

Ruben William Evans-Guillen and Elena Rosario Evans-Guillen

Ruben William Evans-Guillen and Elena Rosario Evans-Guillen (Handout)

Twins Ruben and Elena Rosario Evans-Guillen, 11, have raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity since they were only six years old.

The twins, who are from Warrington, have ADHD and want to dispel the negative stigma around it and raise awareness for its positives. They began their charitable pursuits by running on cold muddy fields with collection buckets at six years old – now, they have raised over £46k for the NHS and NHS-related charities.

Their dad, Mark, said: "We're completely over the moon and feel incredibly privileged. The twins feel pure excitement that they've been named and are really happy."

Ruben and Elena have taken on monumental physical activity campaigns, including running, cycling, trekking and swimming over several hundred kilometres. They have worked tirelessly for Warrington & Halton Hospital (WHH) Charity, MedEquip4Kids, Warrington Youth Club, Room at the Inn and Warrington Food Bank.

In 2018 they embarked on a 100km running challenge to raise money for an outside play area for the Children’s Ward at WHH. They have raised around £18k for WHH to help impact and aid the recovery of child patients and their families.

The twins took part in running and trekking events almost every weekend in 2018 and raise money for an outside play area and for mental health services CAMHS room.

In addition, testament to their running activities have also been used by the NHS Community Engagement Officer to promote in local schools encouraging children taking part in physical exercise and healthy lifestyle initiatives.

They continued their charity and community work locally and by setting up Active Kids Foundation, a non-profit social media entity acting as an umbrella to support other local charities.

Julie Atkinson

Julie Atkinson received a nomination for supporting vulnerable people in Warrington as a shop owner.

Julie, 49, has run the Hollins Green Community Shop in Warrington for over five years and her efforts during Covid meant it could stay open. She runs the non-profit shop with three part-time staff and volunteers and built up the business from scratch.

During the pandemic, she worked six days a week between March and September 2020, despite having a medical condition herself. Staff and many volunteers couldn’t work and it was feared the shop would have to close and the elderly in the community would suffer as the nearest alternative was miles away.

She boosted morale in the community by providing cream teas and bedding plants. She gave bespoke hampers to those who were shielding so that they could still celebrate special occasions.

The community shop stocks local producers where possible, including an award-winning butcher, micro-brewery and honey producer. She has also helped young people by welcoming volunteers for the Duke of Edinburgh award and encouraged placements for young people with learning difficulties.

Phil Phillips

Phil Phillips received a nomination for his services to Museums. For 50 years he has pioneered technologies to create new digital experiences.

He was the former president of Museums Computer, a non-profit association which looks at ways to embed technology within the industry. Phil was also the first to use computers for documenting collections and saw the opportunities digital equipment could offer the industry

The Bromborough lad also became a key instigator of Liverpool’s Natural History Centre (NHC), which was piloted in 1983 and opened permanently in 1986. The 72-year-old won the Shell/Times Museum Professional of the Year Award in 1989 for his efforts.

To encourage younger people to take STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Phil helped to innovate the JASON project, an American school programme. It ran from 1993-1998 and had strong links with initiatives in California, Bermuda, Florida and Belize.

More recently he was a key player in setting up a live link to the European Space Station with astronaut Tim Peake in 2016.

Peter Woods

Peter Woods received a nomination for charity and voluntary services.

For more than 40 years the Liverpudlian has played an instrumental role in the area's development. Peter, 71, was a key figure in Liverpool's successful Capital of Culture bid in 2008, helping the city cement its status as a European art destination.

He has also held senior positions in the industry, having chaired Liverpool Art Fund Merseyside, worked for the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art and co-established Tate Liverpool in 1988. As well as his interest in art Peter played a heroic role in feeding stationed seafarers during the pandemic.

He noticed people in Merseyside dock were being kept onboard for months at a time due to restrictions. To ensure they were fed and entertained he sent packages of toiletries, food and puzzles to those seafarers.

In 2010 Peter was made a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Merseyside and in 2018 he became the High Sheriff of the metropolitan and ceremonial county. He has played a vital role for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and became a Eucharistic minister at the iconic church.

John H Stracey

John Stracey of the Wirral is one of the oldest living world championship boxers.

After his successful career he decided to invest time into charitable causes such as Mind, Pathfinders, the NSPCC and Stick ’n’ Step. The 71-year-old will receive an MBE for the money he has helped channel into these groups.

He is an ambassador for WBC and volunteers for WBC cares, a programme where former and current champions visit ill children in hospital. John is also in the WBC Hall of Fame and the British Ex Boxers Hall of Fame for his achievements.

The former world championship boxer became Welterweight Champion of the World on December 6 1975 in Mexico City after defeating Jose Napoles, who at the time was regarded as pound for pound the best boxer in the world.

He was also the undefeated European Welterweight Champion and British Welterweight Champion in the 1970s.

Before he became professional the Bethnal Green lad represented Great Britain at the Olympics. He was 18 on the day he flew out and is still the youngest English boxer to represent Britain at the Games.

Mike Morris

From the outset of Covid-19 Michael worked tirelessly to supply vital food supplies to maritime pilots.

In cooperation with the Department of Transport and Department of Health and Social Care he helped minimise the number of pilots succumbing to the virus. The 63-year-old also worked with the Government to produce Covid guidance for pilots.

He made sure staff had early access to testing while also playing an essential role in providing them with sufficient supplies of PPE. Mike worked closely will all 48 pilot services in Britain, ensuring the community was informed of the relevant information.

Mike has been a Conservative Party councillor of Cambridge, Sefton for more than four years.

Sally Yeoman

Sally's passion for the voluntary sector started at university. She has been nominated for her services to the community of Halton.

Since she graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Sociology she joined the Voluntary Action Epping Forest in 1999, helping individuals "achieve their full potential". As well as this Sally, 49, developed a regional profile as Vice Chair of VS6 Liverpool City Region, a partnership of 11 support organisations with 8,600 organisations.

When the Covid national lockdown hit she steered Halton's and St Helen's voluntary through exceptionally turbulent times.

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