Unsung heroes recognised in New Year Honours

From helping victims of the Windrush Scandal to refereeing more than 1,000 football matches - community heroes from our region have been recognised in the 2020 New Year Honours list.

A number of people from across the Black Country and Staffordshire have been awarded royal honours for their outstanding contributions to society.

Each have made a big difference in the lives of ordinary members of the public.

Some have helped domestic abuse victims while others have improved transport links within their local community.

Vanessa Brown, 35, from Bilston, has been awarded an OBE for her volunteer work on the Windrush Reform Programme - helping those caught up in the Windrush Scandal.

The Windrush Scandal, which emerged in 2018, saw British subjects - many from Caribbean descent - wrongly detained, denied legal rights and threatened with deportation. In at least 83 cases, people were wrongly deported by the Home Office.

It came after British subjects, who arrived between 1948 and 1970, were not given documentation upon entry to the country.

Miss Brown works at the Home Office and stopped seven people from being wrongly deported, alongside supplying information to more than 2,000 people affected by the scandal.

She said: “It is a high honour and a blessing at the same time to receive this OBE.

“This is not something I could achieve myself, many people have given me the opportunity to continue how they felt about settlement at the time.

“I was able to raise the profile of the positive contributions of those who came over to service the UK.”

She directed seven people threatened with deportation to the Home Office’s taskforce department. There, they were issued with the correct documentation demonstrating their legal right to be in the UK.

Miss Brown also used her expertise in the subject - harnessed as an administrative assistant at the Home Office’s immigration removal department - to organise a successful event for 120 affected people at Wolverhampton Heritage Centre, in Whitmore Reans.

She also arranged for the Home Office’s Commonwealth taskforce to attend her church - Bethel United, Birmingham - where 2,000 people were issued with information on the Windrush Scheme.

The scheme helps Commonwealth citizens - who have been settled in the UK for a long time within the correct paperwork - to get documents to demonstrate their right to live in this country.

Her OBE also recognises her work on feeding homeless people in the West Midlands and providing them with sleeping bags and first aid.

Gilbert ‘Gill’ Preece, 77, from Walsall, has been recognised with an OBE for services to football within the Black Country, alongside volunteering.

He coached referees for 22 years before retiring in 1984. He has refereed more than 1,000 games - involving more than 26,000 players.

Since then, Gill has devoted thousands of hours to his club Darlaston Town FC 1874. He has been instrumental in ensuring the club remains a proud symbol within the community.

He has also volunteered within the scouts, looking after more than 2,000 cubs as scout leader.

Gill said: “I am over the moon really. I am sure, somewhere, there is more worthy people for an OBE. But it is a great honour.

“Right from the outset, I said that I always wanted to put something back into the community and try and give something back.”

Sahdaish Pall, 46, from Tipton, has spent more than 24 years helping victim of domestic abuse within the West Midlands.

In 2017, she was recognised as one of 350 inspirational Sikh women across the world by the Sikh Network.

Her British Empire Medal is for services to victims of domestic abuse and voluntary service to the community in the West Midlands. Ms Pall says her work on domestic abuse was helped by knowing Asian languages which “broke down barriers”.

She said: “I am really excited and honoured that someone nominated me for such an award. I would never have dreamed of it.”

Kathleen Perry, 71, from Churchbridge, Cannock, has been involved with local government for 14 years and spearheaded improvements to transport and local infrastructure.

She has also used her talented singing abilities to raise money for charity. She has received an MBE for services to the community in Staffordshire.

She said: “This is a great honour and a complete surprise. I have always tried to help people. I have known about this but haven’t been able to say anything - it is like releasing the cork off a bottle of champagne.”

Others recognised in the honours list include Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer Rebecca Jayne Bryant, who has received the Queen’s Fire Service Medal, Barry Picken, who has been awarded an MBE for services to the community in Wolverhampton and the West Midlands, and George Robert Marsh, TD, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands, who has been awarded an MBE.

All the recipients will attend a local service by a lord lieutenant followed by a garden party at Buckingham Palace in the summer.

Famous faces honoured

Celebrity chef Nigel Slater, from Wolverhampton, will receive an OBE for his services to cookery and literature.

Nigel has been recognised for his expertise in food and writing with this prestigious award from Her Majesty The Queen.

The 61-year-old is a columnist for The Observer Magazine and has appeared on many TV cookery shows since 1998, including Simple Suppers on BBC one.

He also regularly features on radio. In 2005, he appeared as a guest on the BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.

Steven Knight, the creator of award-winning TV series Peaky Blinders, is to receive a CBE for his services to drama, entertainment and the Birmingham community.

The film director and screenwriter is being recognised after Peaky Blinders shot to worldwide popularity over six seasons.

The TV series, which follows a criminal gang in early 20th century Birmingham, has put the region on the international map.

Knight, who grew up in Birmingham, said of his CBE: "It's amazing. I'm very, very, very honoured. I've worked with my PA for 19 years and she's very rarely anything other than totally even-keeled.

"I knew there was something different when she said, 'Are you ready for some news?' That's how I found out."