New Year Honours: Midlands stars Denise Lewis, Frank Skinner and David Harewood lead the way
Midlands athletics legend Denise Lewis, comedian Frank Skinner and Birmingham-born actor David Harewood are among people from across the West Midlands recognised for their achievements in the New Year’s Honours – the first from King Charles III.
Denise Lewis, from West Bromwich, was among more than 20 people from various sectors across the region receiving the news they had been honoured in the list.
It features the likes of a selfless charity fundraiser who has helped terminally-ill children, a college principal, business leaders and those who worked to make the Commonwealth Games a success.
The highest accolade went to Denise Lewis, president of Commonwealth Games England, who was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to sport.
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West Bromwich Albion fan Frank Skinner, who was born in the town, was also made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to entertainment.
And renowned actor and Homeland star David Harewood, originally from Small Heath in Birmingham, was awarded an OBE for services to drama and charity. Meanwhile Chris Jones, from Stourbridge, who led the project to build the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Smethwick – a focal point of the Commonwealth Games –was awarded an MBE for his efforts.
Kate Davidson, from Wordsley, Stourbridge, was recognised with an MBE for her services to bereaved people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It's 'full circle' for Dame Denise Lewis
Denise Lewis says becoming a Dame in the New Year Honours List feels "like going full circle" after her Olympic gold medal-winning success in Sydney 22 years ago.
Lewis, who was born in West Bromwich, overcame injury problems to top the podium in the heptathlon at the Games in Australia in 2000, and says she has drawn strength from that success in moments of adversity in her life ever since.
"You always hold that moment in time within you," she said.
"When things aren't going according to plan or your confidence is low in life, you can access that moment to give you that fuel that you need to think 'actually, I've accomplished so much'. I can get through because I have those coping strategies.
"Sydney for me was just epic on so many levels. It had that ripple effect on those around me, my club Birchfield Harriers. You just can't quantify how a performance that you think is solely for you can affect others.
"I was endeared into the nation at that time, and it's almost like going full circle having this damehood 22 years after that performance. It's very emotional."
Lewis, who turned 50 earlier this year, said she was "blown away" when she received notification of the honour.
"I can't even process it, but I haven't stopped smiling since I heard the news," she said.
"It's an incredible honour. I'm just trying to take it in and its enormity. I recognise that I'm one of very few women in athletics that have received a damehood. I'm just so proud and incredibly beside myself."
Lewis was born in West Bromwich and first came to prominence at the Birchfield Harriers club. Her first major international breakthrough came at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, where she claimed a gold medal.
Frank Skinner MBE: I thought it might have been an error
Black Country comedian Frank Skinner said he had not yet told those closest to him he has been made an MBE in the New Year Honours because he thought it may have been "some sort of administrative error".
The West Bromwich-born star, aged 65, whose real name is Christopher Graham Collins, has been recognised for his services to entertainment.
He began his live stand-up career in 1987 when he tried his hand as a comic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He returned to the festival to scoop one of comedy's most prestigious prizes – the Perrier Award – four years after his first performance. He said: "Well, to be honest, I haven't told anyone at all, even those closest to me, because I still thought there might be some sort of administrative error. But I think it's brilliant.
"I deal mainly in laughs and applause and they disappear into the air quite quickly.
"So getting a proper medal that you can hold on to and polish regularly feels (it) has given my career a sense of permanence that I like." Alongside fellow comic and screenwriter David Baddiel, Skinner makes up one half of Baddiel and Skinner, the duo behind TV programmes Fantasy Football and Baddiel And Skinner Unplanned.
Along with Liverpudlian rock band The Lightning Seeds, the football-fanatic pair wrote football anthem Three Lions.
Skinner has also had a successful career in radio having been on Absolute Radio since 2009.
He remains in the Saturday breakfast slot with The Frank Skinner Show.
David Harewood OBE a voice for better mental health support
Birmingham-born actor and broadcaster David Harewood has been made an OBE in the New Year Honours list after becoming a prominent voice for better mental health support.
The 57-year-old, who found widespread fame playing CIA director David Estes in the US drama series Homeland, has been honoured for his services to drama and charity.
In 2019, Harewood created a one-off BBC documentary titled Psychosis And Me, which saw him retrace his steps and delve into his breakdown after being sectioned aged 23.
The acclaimed actor later backed the launch of a new online platform, JAAQ.co.uk (Just ask a question), which helps prevent people with mental health problems "reaching crisis stage", from founder Danny Gray, who previously appeared on Dragons' Den.
Speaking to presenter Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in May this year Harewood spoke candidly about experiencing racism as a child and the subsequent intrusive feelings that followed him into adulthood.
In May, Harewood featured as part of Channel 4 documentary Troy Deeney: Where's My History? which captured efforts to make the teaching of the history and experiences of black, Asian and ethnic minorities mandatory in schools.
Harewood was born in Birmingham, the son of Barbadian parents who arrived in Britain in 1957 looking for a better life.
