Queen's Birthday Honours List 2021: Meet some of the local heroes recognised in the Anglia region
Click above to see some of those in the West of the Anglia region who have been honoured.
The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2021 has been revealed, highlighting the extraordinary efforts of individuals within our communities.
It includes those who have worked throughout the crisis, putting others before themselves - from caring neighbours, frontline and community heroes, to those supporting the UK recovery.
Here are just some of the local heroes who have been honoured in the west part of the region.
Dame Professor Sarah Gilbert, Kettering-born - For services to Science and Public Health in Covid Vaccine Development
Professor Gilbert, who was born in Kettering and was an undergraduate at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, receives a damehood for her pivotal role in developing the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine.
Dame Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire - For Parliamentary and Political service
"I am deeply honoured to be recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List as a Dame Commander of the British Empire. It is an immense privilege to be recognised for service to politics. Serving my constituents of South Northamptonshire and my country is a great honour, and I look forward to continuing to do so, alongside my work to improve the support for new families so that every baby gets the best start for life."
Amika George MBE, Cambridge University Student - For services to Education
Amika is the youngest recipient of this year's Queen's Birthday Honours, being just 21-years-old.
She is the founder of the #FreePeriods Campaign against period poverty.
She graduates from Cambridge University this year where she is studying history.
Victoria Pooley BEM, Hitchin - For services to the community in Hitchin
Victoria has worked tirelessly over the last four years within her community, raising money for Marie Curie supporter's team, along with other local charities as well as the church.
She runs a club meeting on a monthly basis known as the Friendship Club and is the current treasurer and secretary.
As part of the club, she organises trips for members which included a bridge walk in London and annual sea holidays.
She also organises monthly meetups with the disabled and visits those who aren't able to travel.
Kirsty Anne Murphy OBE, Northampton - For services to Aviation
Kirsty made history in 2009 by becoming the first female Red Arrows Pilot, breaking the glass ceiling within military aviation and going on to perform 136 public displays and 133 flypasts in 11 countries.
In 2019, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps invited her to become an Aviation Ambassador for the Department for Transport ' a voluntary role to which she has exceeded all expectations.
As an Ambassador, she has partnered with several charities including The Air League, Fly2Help, and Stemettes.
She has spoken in schools, become a mentor to young girls, supported free flying lessons, produced engaging video content and assisted the launch of a new outreach programme Cleared to Aim High.
Rowhi Mahmood Nemer MBE, Cambridge - For services to Front-Line NHS Workers and the community during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Rowhi is the owner of Cambridge taxi company, CamCab. He built his company from scratch, and at the beginning of lockdown in March last year, he decided to offer free lifts for NHS staff, the air ambulance charity Magpas, and the East Anglia Air Ambulance.
On an average day, more than 100 key workers used his company. Surgeons told how he would wait outside their houses to provide lifts in the early hours to perform serious operations.
Rowhi was surprised to be honoured and told ITV News Anglia he just wanted to help his local community: "This honour means a lot to me, my family and the community. I've been doing this kind of charity work for the last 15 years.
"I never aimed for something like this, you don't expect things like this to happen, it's a very special moment in my life."
He has also expanded his service and offered free delivery services for the elderly, vulnerable and those who were shielding at home to ensure they had food supplies and medication delivered to their doorsteps, free of charge.
And if that was not enough, when he was put under pressure to let go of his staff due to financial struggles, without hesitation, he re-mortgaged property in order to keep all his staff on the same salary.
Zillur Hussain MBE, Peterborough - For services to the community in Peterborough during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Zillur is is the founder of the Zi Foundation, a family-run charity supporting less privileged individuals in the community.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he delivered free meals to over 500 people in the first few weeks of lockdown.
Since then, he has provided more than 17,000 free meals to members of the public in and around Peterborough, including the homeless and other vulnerable groups; and he also delivered antibacterial hand sanitiser to the homeless across Peterborough and Huntingdon, along with 10,000 face masks.
Zillur told ITV News Anglia that this honour does not just belong to him, but it is also for the large team of people who work at the Zi Foundation: “It is amazing, my family are really happy we got this honour. We never expected something like this, it was a real surprise when I got the call.
"The foundation started around 6/7 years ago, we usually do a lot of work in Bangladesh, but because of the last year, it was the first time we were able to go to our community, door to door. We feel privileged to go out and help people locally.”
Peter Smith MBE, Eversholt, Bedfordshire - For services to Wildlife and Conservation in Bedfordshire
Peter has made a considerable and lasting impact on wildlife and conservation in Bedfordshire and nationally.
This is primarily through the Peter Smith Trust for Nature, founded in 1990, making grants for conservation purposes.
"Conservation is quite often underrated. There are so many good causes but conservation has, at last, come to the forefront. Everybody's realising the benefits of well-being in the countryside and conserving the birds, animals and bees. The youngsters today are far more conscious than we were when I was young."
Billy Boyle MBE, Cambridge - For services to Engineering
Billy is widely regarded as a pioneer of significant, disruptive technology for non-invasive diagnostic screening of disease, including cancers, which is showing enormous potential and is already saving lives today.
He is also extremely passionate about helping engineers and entrepreneurs of tomorrow and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering 2020.
"I'm very proud and humbled. Everything we have done at Owlstone is testament to a fantastic and dedicated team. There are still many exciting challenges ahead but we are optimistic our technology can have a profound impact on the lives of many patients"
Here are just some of the local heroes who have been honoured in the East of the Anglia region.
Peter Waters MBE, Norfolk - For services to the Tourism Industry during Covid-19
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Pete has been tenacious in his support for businesses in East Anglia, and has been used as the trusted conduit for Visit Britain and Visit England to reach local DMOs to provide information and support to local businesses.
To aid with tourism recovery in the region, Pete oversaw the creation of Unexplored England - a new marketing panel of every local DMO in the area to work on domestic tourism promotion.
This was the first time ever that every organisation has worked together, and the work will continue into 2021/22.
Alison Moyet MBE, Essex-born, For services to Music
Alison is a singer and was one of the biggest pop stars of the 1980s.
The 59-year-old began her career in a succession of punk bands before forming synth-pop duo Yazoo with former Depeche Mode musician Vince Clarke in 1981. Their hits included Don't Go and Only You.
Alison embarked on a solo career following Yazoo's disbandment in 1983 and a year later her debut album, Alf, went to number one in the UK.
In 1985 she was named British female solo artist at the Brit Awards.
Alison has sold more than 23 million records around the world and last released an album in 2017, with Other.
Alison has decribed the honour as a "remarkable, happy-making 60th birthday surprise" after a four-decade career.
Brian Anthony Jaggs BEM, Essex - For services to Policing and the Covid-19 Response
Brian established the (then) fledgling Essex Police IT department 20 years ago and is now Deputy Head of IT for the joint Essex and Kent Police IT department, applying his expertise in implementing technology to transform policing processes.
In March 2020, he led the technology response to new and challenging organisational demands.
Within three weeks, he had created a team working seven days a week, to build and deliver over 2500 additional laptops to officers and staff who needed to work from home, in a socially distanced and sanitised workshop.
Simon Peter Scammell BEM, Suffolk - For services to Frontline Health Workers throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic
Matt Read BEM, Suffolk - For services to Frontline Health Workers throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic
Simon and Matt have worked at Suffolk Sails in Woodbridge for 23 years and 14 years respectively.
At the start of lockdown, they made a face shield for their friend who is a doctor. Ipswich Hospital was so impressed it requested many more like it.
The pair self-funded and produced the first 150 face shields and solicited help from friends with 3D printers.
They have since produced over 18,000 items of PPE and donated them to hospitals such as Ipswich Hospital, Felixstowe Community Hospital and Woolverstone Macmillan Centre.
Richard Christopher Wakeman CBE, Suffolk - For services to Music and Broadcasting
Rick is a keyboard musician, presenter and author. He was a member of the hugely successful rock group Yes and has had a successful solo career. He's also worked with music industry giants like David Bowie. He's widely regarded as one of rock's greatest ever keyboardists.