Community heroes to receive British Empire Medal
Community heroes from across the Black Country and Staffordshire are set to receive the British Empire Medal at a special presentation next week.
Nineteen men and women who have "actively contributed to help others and make their communities richer" will be invested with the honour at Birmingham University by West Midlands Lord Lieutenant, John Crabtree OBE on Wednesday September 15.
Some are described as having gone to "extraordinary lengths and given countless years to volunteering", others "have travelled emotional journeys that have driven them to greater achievements".
All are acknowledged to have shown goodwill to others.
There are six Wolverhampton recipients; Paul Birch, Vanessa Brown, Elizabeth Corrigan, Kim Hatton, Joanne Jackson and Gregory Silvester; two from Dudley; Ceri Davies and Manoj Kumar Lal; two from Sandwell; Sahdaish Kaur Pall and Khakan Qureshi, one from Oldbury, Amolak Singh Dhariwal, five in Walsall; Karen Eccleston, Francis Hodgkinson, Claire McKen, Gilbert Preece and Balbir Seimar and three from Stourbridge; Louise Hadley, Rosemary Haines and Desmond Rex Williams.
The Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands, John Crabtree OBE believes that during the Covid pandemic, many people across the region have shown kindness and made huge efforts to support those in need.
“The West Midlands is celebrating a record number of BEM recipients this year," he said.
"Each one thoroughly deserves this honour for their outstanding community involvement.
"I am thrilled to be meeting them at the investiture and acknowledging all they do.”
