Press release

New Year Honours List 2011

The 2011 New Year Honours List has been published today recognising outstanding achievement and service across the whole of the UK.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The 2011 New Year Honours List has been published today recognising outstanding achievement and service across the whole of the United Kingdom.

The vast majority of the awards go not to stars of sport, stage and screen but to extraordinary people who are making a real contribution to their community. A large number of people recognised include those supporting the Big Society by making a real difference to their local community through volunteering, fundraising, social action and philanthropy.
 
People honoured with an MBE for making a real impact in their community include:

  • Dr Marjorie Ziff, who for nearly 60 years has served the community in Leeds through her philanthropic and charitable giving. She, with her husband who died in 2004, have funded countless projects, events and festivals which have enhanced the life of the city.
  • Douglas Lee and his wife Glynnis Lee, who are co-founders and organisers of the Stonebridge Adventure Playground and Brent Play Association, have been passionately committed to providing play and childcare provision to all local children and young people on the estate.
  • Ratilal Devchand Shah, a philanthropist and selfless volunteer who has used his energy and enthusiasm to build relationships with different communities and faiths locally, nationally and internationally.
  • Roger Malcom Hosking, who founded Highfields Happy Hens, which provides education facilities for young offenders. Hundreds of young people have had their lives radically turned around over the years that Highfields Happy Hens has existed.
  • And an MBE to Jane Howitt, a volunteer since 1988 for East Devon Audio-Description Service for blind and partially sighted people; on average she gives 20 hours a week to the charity.

Philanthropy has also been a prominent theme amongst the recipients, including a GBE for Lord Weidenfeld, who has given a lifetime of public service, most recently through his work to establish the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford; a knighthood for Alec Reed, a social entrepreneur who has used his own money from a successful business career to found a number of new charities; and a knighthood for Vernon Ellis, a central figure in the philanthropic support of musical life in the UK, and in particular through his work with the English National Opera.

In total 997 people have been recommended to The Queen for an award:

  • 852 candidates have been selected at MBE and OBE level: 605 at MBE and 247 at OBE
  • 74 per cent of the recipients are local heroes, who’ve undertaken outstanding work in their communities
  • There are 446 successful women candidates in the List, representing 45 per cent of the total. Women candidates include nine Dames, 26 CBEs and four CB
  • 7.6 per cent of the successful candidates come from ethnic minority communities

This is one of the most diverse lists yet, fully reflecting the variety and make-up of the population. The list includes a Beekeeper, a Driving Instructor for people with special needs, an equine physiotherapist, the Bridge Master at Tower Bridge, and a founder member of Stonewall FC, the first gay men’s football team in the UK. Awards to women comprise 45 per cent of the total.

There is a DBE for Patricia Bacon, who has been a pioneer of change in relation to curriculum and skills development as Principal of St Helens College, since 2002. There is a knighthood for Richard Lambert, the Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, who has earned widespread praise for the way in which he has supported the needs of UK business during the recent financial turmoil. And there is a knighthood for Professor Robin Murray, Professor of Psychiatry, King’s College London; he is a leader in schizophrenia research worldwide and has done much to combat the stigma of mental illness. Sara Thornton, the Chief Constable, Thames Valley Police, receives a CBE.

There are also two MPs honoured in this list; Anne Begg, Labour MP for Aberdeen South, receives a DBE for services to Disabled People and to Equal Opportunities; she has been a major force in putting equalities on the Parliamentary agenda. And there is a knighthood for the Conservative MP, Peter Bottomley, who has had a long and distinguished career in the House of Commons and was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Eltham in 1975.

Among the well known names being honoured, there are CBEs for the actors, David Suchet and Sheila Hancock; a DBE for historian and author Lady Antonia Fraser; a CBE for artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen; an OBE for rugby coach and former World Cup winning rugby player Mike Catt; and MBEs for World Cup Final referee, Howard Webb and golfer Graeme McDowell, who won the 2010 US Open and was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup Team. 

About 11 per cent of honours are for work in Education. There is a DBE for Professor Caroline Humphrey, Professor of Collaborative Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, whose award winning research has focused on Siberia and Mongolia in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods; and Susan John, Headteacher of Lampton School in Hounslow, a national leader of education, her school featured in Ofsted’s 2009 publication ‘Twelve Outstanding Secondary Schools - Excelling against the Odds’.

The list of education CBEs includes Howard Goodall, the award winning composer and broadcaster, who has worked tirelessly for the past five years to promote music education in England.

In total 15 head teachers, and 14 school and college principals are recommended for honours, as well as seven school governors, and three school crossing wardens who receive MBEs. The education MBEs also includes an award to Julie Stamper, who founded the Schoolgirl Mum’s Unit and has supported hundreds of teenage parents in completing their education.

Health makes up eight per cent of all honours. There is a knighthood for Professor Keith Porter, Consultant at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham who is the lead clinician and the key co-ordinator in the care of battle casualties flown back from operational areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq. He is responsible for significant improvements in combat casualty care and has forged ground-breaking procedures to the benefit of the most severely injured Service personnel.

There is a rich diversity of awards overall including honours for six GPs, six nurses, four occupational therapists, three pharmacists and a dentist. There is also an MBE to Grahame Pickering, the Chief Executive of the Great North Air Ambulance Service, an independent charity providing a vital service to people injured seriously on the roads as well as inaccessible sites, such as the Cumbrian mountains.

Industry and the Economy makes up 14 per cent of the awards. Roger Carr, Chairman of Centrica, receives a knighthood. He is one of the UK’s leading businessmen and a Director of the Court of the Bank of England. And there is a knighthood for Martin Broughton, Chairman of British Airways. He is recognised as an outstanding business leader with a strong track record of service to the wider community.

CBEs include Michael Oglesby, Executive Chairman of the Bruntwood Group, who has supported over 100 charitable organisations in the North West through the Oglesby Charitable Trust. And a CBE to Katherine Hamnett, the Fashion Designer, who has instigated new styles and trends in fashion over the years, all with a heavy emphasis on ethical production techniques.

OBEs include Margaret and Mark Constantine, the Co-Founders of Lush Cosmetics. From humble beginnings in a shed in the couple’s garden, the business has become a household name with more than 600 stores in 43 countries. There is also an OBE for Lisa Buckingham, the Editor of the Financial Mail on Sunday, and a champion of women’s rights for many years.

There are MBEs for a wide variety of people, including Kathleen White who has worked at Claverley Post Office in Wolverhampton for 68 years, becoming sub postmistress in 1960. And an MBE to John Mackay who has worked as a postman for over 44 years, and acted as a vital lifeline to the local community, delivering mail in all weather conditions in the Bettyhill area of Caithness, one of the most challenging delivery routes in the Highlands of Scotland.

Science and Technology makes up three per cent of the awards including a GBE for John Roundell, Earl Selborne, who stands out as a leader of the scientific community and a major contributor to UK society through his involvement in a wide range of Select Committees and as Chairman of the Foundation for Science and Technology since 2006.

Professor Helen Wallace, Centennial Professor, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, receives a DBE. She has had a long and distinguished career and has had a practical impact on a wide range of issues around European integration, on which she is the leading authority.

Among the OBEs is Vivienne Parry who is one of the best known writers and broadcasters on science in the UK. She is passionate about engaging the public with science and her journalism, writing and broadcasting have reached huge audiences.

Arts and Media make up seven per cent of the total. There is a DBE for Harriet Walter, one of the UK’s greatest classical actresses with an award winning career spanning over three decades. And a DBE for Lady Antonia Fraser, the internationally established historian.

There is a CBE for Steve McQueen, one of Britain’s most influential artists. In collaboration with soldiers’ families, he recently created the exhibit ‘Queen and Country’ featuring a series of postage stamps bearing the portraits of 177 British soldiers killed in action. The list of CBEs also includes Mark Damazar, lately Controller of Radio 4; Richard Wentworth, the Sculptor; and Trevor Horn, the Record Producer who has had a major influence on modern music for three decades.

Amongst the OBEs are Lyricist and Songwriter, Herbert Kretzmer; the Folk Musician, Richard Thompson; and the actor, Burt Kwouk, whose success has helped pave the way for other actors from the Chinese community.

Those supporting local communities through the arts are also recognised including an MBE to Paul Anderson, the Executive Director of the Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust, an independent arts development organisation that has established the Luton Carnival as one of the biggest in the UK attracting more than 140,000 people.

The State Sector awards include a GCB for Sir David Normington, lately Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, and a KCB for Bruce Robinson, Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Awards for Sport make up four per cent of the total. There are CBEs for George Kerr, the first Scot and youngest person ever to be awarded 10th Dan in Judo, the highest award available and Joe Brown, one of the foremost rock climber and mountaineer of all time.

In addition to the MBE for the World Cup Referee, Howard Webb, there is also an MBE for Terence Farley, who aged 77 has devoted nearly six decades to football refereeing at county FA level in Durham and in the Football League. There are also an MBE for Aslie Pitter who has made an enormous impact to tackle homophobia in sports through his role as a founder member of Stonewall FC, the first gay men’s football team in the UK.

There are also MBEs for Sylvia Grice, who, over five decades, has taught thousands of people to swim in Ripon, North Yorkshire and Frederick Shaw who forty years ago started a boxing club for boys in Alderney, in the Channel Islands.

Notes to editors

The full honours list will be published at http://www.direct.gov.uk/newyearhonours from 00:01 on Friday 31 December.

Published 31 December 2010