Dedicated fundraiser, police sergeant and councillors join unsung heroes recognised in King's New Year Honours

They join a string of other unsung heroes from across the Black Country and Staffordshire who have been rewarded for their actions.

Among them is 17-year-old Louis Johnson, from Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton, who has raised over £75,000 for 18 charities.

He has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community in Wolverhampton.

The City of Wolverhampton College student, who is studying uniformed public services and wants to join the police force when he is older, has received numerous awards for his fundraising efforts, which started from the age of two.

He has taken on fundraising walks, abseils, bike rides, set up stalls and raffles and even sat in a bath of beans.

Charities and good causes that have benefitted have included Birmingham Children's Hospital, Mary Stevens Hospice, the Good Shepherd in Wolverhampton and Compton Care, among many others.

The teenager, who has also suffered with a number of health issues and is due to have a chest operation next year, said the honour felt "unbelievable".

He said: "I couldn't believe it, I really couldn't. It set in once I saw the letters and the emails and stuff and it's just unbelievable.

"It all started when I was very, very little doing Barnardo's walks with my mum that she used to set up and then it's just expanded from there, from me wanting to do the annual memory walks for a hospice that my nan was in, to going to 18 different charities and raising about £75,000 in total.

"I didn't think I'd be where I am at at the moment. I've from a young age been doing my fundraising but over the years it's exploded, it's got bigger and bigger."

Louis’ mother, Teresa Johnson, said: "He's one of the youngest recipients. I'm so proud of him.

"He's had to deal with health issues too. He has pectus excavatum so his heart and lungs are squashed, he needs an operation to pull his chest out.

"It's not NHS funded so we've been fighting for years to get him the operation and he's now on a clinical trial and we're hoping he can have his operation before next summer."

Sergeant John Price, of West Midlands Police, who has played a leading role in enhancing digital forensics has been recognised with the King’s Police Medal (KPM).

He has been at the forefront of introducing technology improvements to help the police force catch crooks, protect the public and get justice for victims.

John joined the force over 20 years ago and has worked in various teams such as neighbourhood policing, CID, tackling acquisitive crime and the counter-terrorism unit before moving into digital forensics in 2016.

He has since helped improve ways of working to assist not only policing but other law enforcement agencies.

John developed the role of digital crime scene manager to provide on-the-spot digital advice to officers investigating serious crimes and ensure potential evidence is gathered at the earliest opportunity.

It included the introduction of digital scene triage - ‘digivans’ - which provide officers, investigators and forensics staff with faster and easier access to tools and technology to allow them to examine digital devices at any location.

John has also used his knowledge to introduce a better way of processing digital data and ensuring it’s stored safely, and cost effectively, to assist ongoing investigations across a wide variety of cases.

This has proven best practice and been recognised at industry awards with requests for the expertise to be shared internationally.

Sgt Price said: "It was a huge surprise to be told about the award but I'm extremely honoured.

"It's a privilege to be part of the forensics unit and everything we do is very much a team effort."

The Mayor of Sandwell Councillor Bill Gavan has been appointed an MBE.

The Langley Labour Councillor has been recognised for his contribution to politics, LGBT issues and helping those in recovery from drink and drug issues.

Councillor Gavan, aged 73, has been sober for 47 years and helped countless people since.

He was also the founder chairman of Birmingham Pride and ran the popular Birmingham nightclub Subway, navigating the pitfalls of that particular industry in his own indomitable way.

He said: "I am pleased my work in the recovery sector and campaigning for LGBT issues over the decades has been recognised. When we started we did not have the support of local councils and police forces as we do these days.

"It has been hard not telling everyone, I found out on November 23, for the first week it was hard keeping it myself but then I forgot about it but now everyone will know. It has made Christmas very special."

As mayor, Councillor Gavan is used to attending engagements when he is the guest of honour but he knows when he collects his MBE he will be meeting the man at the top of the establishment tree.

He said: "It will be a great day, and especially as the King himself will be there.

"It will be a proud day for myself but also all those people who have volunteered and given their time to my various campaigns over the years."

A career educator from Walsall has been appointed an MBE.

Great Wyrley based Paul Lord, the director of sport and head of PE at Westcroft School in Wolverhampton, is rewarded for services to children and young children with special educational needs.

He has worked at the school for over 30 years and has overseen it become one of the leading schools in the West Midlands for delivering programmes to pupils with special educational needs.

In 2003 he won an award for excellence in special needs teaching.

He has also been honoured by Birmingham University in their teaching excellence award.

A businessman who represents the West Midlands region at a national level has also been appointed an MBE.

Phillip George Potter from Bewdley has been given the award for services to business and to the community in Worcestershire.

Mr Potter is the regional lead, West Midlands, Wales and South West for UK Export Finance, a government organisation which helps exporters navigate the market and come up with solutions to finance issues and encourage them to achieve sales growth.

He has been with the organisation for over 11 years and before that spent over 34 years working at HSBC, starting off in leadership and relationship management positions in the West Midlands before developing and implementing the Midlands Regional approach to the bank's international strategy.

Outside of work he has been on the committee of the Bewdley festival for many years.

Meanwhile, MP for Wyre Forest Mark Garnier, who was first elected in 2010, has been given an OBE for political and public service.

A number of people in Staffordshire have also been recognised with honours.

South Staffordshire Council’s leader, Councillor Roger Lees, has been awarded the BEM for his contribution to the district.

Leader of the council since 2021, he has been in local government for 32 years, having begun on Swindon Parish Council in 1991, before being elected a district councillor in 2007, and becoming a cabinet member in 2009.

He has been involved in a range of community initiatives and sat as a magistrate on the South Staffordshire bench for 22 years.

Councillor Lees said he was ‘overwhelmed’ to have been among those on the New Year’s Honours list.

“This is a tremendous honour indeed – and one which I am most humbled and proud to receive,” he said.

“South Staffordshire has always been a place most close to my heart and to be given this incredible title for the work I have done for the district is truly wonderful.”

The submission nominating Councillor Lees for the national honour said he had ‘championed several key programmes’ and been ‘instrumental in the ongoing success of South Staffordshire Council which was named Council of the Year 2022 by national awards body iESE’.

“His emphasis on delivering quality services for our communities and ensuring the council maintains and enhances the environment of our district has ensured ongoing value for money and quality outcomes for our communities across South Staffordshire,” said the nomination.

It also talks of his work as council leader with Staffordshire Police to increase their presence at the award-winning Codsall Community Hub – ‘ensuring a stronger police presence in the district’.

“Response teams were re-located from outside the district to a central location bringing with them faster response times for our communities,” it added.

A Staffordshire businessman who has helped turn a 161-year-old manufacturing company into an exporting powerhouse has also been recognised in the New Year Honours.

Rowan Crozier, from Lichfield, has been appointed an MBE for services to manufacturing and enterprise, just months after being bestowed an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University (BCU) for his outstanding contribution to industry and academia.

The 48-year-old runs Birmingham-based Brandauer and has implemented an apprentice scheme which has helped local youngsters into the industry. The company also invested in a £1 million Precision Tooling Academy in Aldridge.

He said: "I am delighted, especially for manufacturing to be recognised because it does not get the recognition it deserves. I am passionate about getting young people into engineering, I fell into it as a mistake when an A-level teacher said I would make a good engineer."

Rowan, who is married with two children, almost missed finding out about his royal appointment.

He said: "We have moved house and the letter went to my old address. The new owners sent a picture saying this looks important, I thought it was the tax man."

Rowan also is an export champion with the Department of Trade, as his company sends its precision parts to 26 countries and also is a volunteer at Support Staffordshire.

He said: "Support Staffordshire is a small charity but helps more than a thousand other charities in the county with funding, bids for grants and other expertise."

Stoke-on-Trent based Kenneth Paul Newton has 35 years experience in the prison service, many of them in senior roles.

He has been credited with 'turning around' Birmingham Prison and has been recognised with an OBE for services to public service.

As governing governor at HMP Birmingham, he was credited as bringing a change in fortune in the prison, formerly known as Winson Green.

Brought in from Swaleside Jail in Kent in 2018 by Prison Minister Rory Stewart, he oversaw the change of control of Birmingham from G4S to the government once more and was given 28 days to come up with an action plan.

It followed a notorious December 2016 riot described as one of the worst in England for 25 years. At the time, inspectors found a jail that had "all but collapsed".

On a visit this year, five years later, government inspectors were left 'stunned' by the 'significant' improvement and noted a world of difference between the broken windows, piles of rubbish and cramped conditions that had previously been observed.

Prisoner behaviour had 'significantly' improved and Mr Newton and his staff was praised for his work in improving 'beyond recognition' the prison.