THE Churches Conservation Trust’s former chief executive Peter Aiers and the former Third Church Estates Commissioner Dr Eve Poole are among the more than 1000 recipients named in the New Year Honours list.
Mr Aiers is appointed OBE for services to heritage. In his 15 years with the trust, he is credited with many new initiatives to reach a wider range of people, including Champing and CCT Digital. Dr Poole was Third Commissioner from 2018 to 2021, and her OBE is for services to education and gender equality. Dr Poole was the first female chairman of Gordonstoun School, in Scotland, from 2015 to 2021, and was interim chief executive of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2022. She writes on theology, economics, and leadership (Comment, 23 December).
John O’Brien, Inquiry Secretary of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), is appointed CBE for services to child protection. Other CBEs are Canon John Tattersall, non-executive chairman of UK Asset Resolution and an Hon. Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, for services to the financial sector; Jasvir Singh, chair of City Sikhs, for services to charity, to faith communities, and to social cohesion; and the political analyst and former chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Peter Kellner.
The Countess of Bessborough is also appointed CBE for services to art, to art education and to Salisbury Cathedral, where she is a lay canon.
Among recipients of honours in the King’s personal gift are Canon Paul Wright, Sub-Dean to HM Chapels Royal and Deputy Clerk, Sub-Almoner, and Domestic Chaplain to the King, who is appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, as is James O’Donnell, the former Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, who directed the music at Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral.
Chris Bryant MP, a former Anglican priest who relinquished his orders in 1991 to enter politics, is awarded a knighthood. He is MP for Rhondda, and chairs the Commons Standards Committee.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis becomes a KBE, for services to the Jewish community, interfaith relations, and to education. The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie Van Der Zyl, is appointed OBE for services to faith and integration, along with the former president, Jonathan Arkush.
Among other OBEs are Dr Krish Kandiah, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation (Interview, 8 September 2017), for services to refugee integration. His work has included rapid response initiatives to find carers for unaccompanied asylum seeking children; Ben Lindsay, chief executive and founder of Power the Fight, a charity that empowers communities to end youth violence (Features, 12 July 2019), for services to the community in south-east London; and Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, founder and director of the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation, a drug and alcohol education charity (Interview, 3 June 2016), for services to young people.
In Scotland, Ramzije Sherifi is also among the OBEs for services to refugee integration in Glasgow; as is Bishop Dr Derek Anthony Webley, of the New Testament Church of God, co-chair of the Windrush cross-government working group, for services to the Windrush generation.
Clive Foster, senior minister at Pilgrim Church, Nottingham, is appointed MBE for his work helping to set up the Windrush response project in 2018, informing people of their rights, and to collate proof of their rights to remain in the UK as well as secure compensation.
Another MBE is the Revd Matthew Hagan, Chaplain of Southern Area Hospice and Rector of Tynan, Aghavilly and Middletown parishes in County Armagh, for services to hospice healthcare and the community in Northern Ireland. He ran five kilometres for 30 consecutive days in June 2020, raising more than £13,000 for the hospice at a time when all its fund-raising events had to be cancelled.
June Simm, chair of governors at Emmaus C of E and RC Primary School, Liverpool, is appointed MBE for services to education; also Alimatu Dimonekene, female genital mutilation (FGM) campaigner: she is herself a survivor of FGM in Sierra Leone; also Louise Davies, lately director of Christians on the Left, for political and charitable services. The campaigning organisation, which supports Christians involved in politics in the UK, now includes more than 30 MPs.
The Revd Dr Margaret Joachim, a former chair of the Women’s Liberal Democrats, is appointed MBE for “services to women in politics”. She has Permission to Officiate in the diocese of London.
The Visitors Officer at Portsmouth Cathedral, Rosemary Fairfax, is awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM).
In that category, there is recognition for head teachers and staff of C of E and RC schools: Sarah Brewis, head teacher of Woodborough C of E Primary School, Pewsey, in Wiltshire, for services to primary education; Susan Ball, a teaching assistant at St Vincent’s RC Primary School, MiIl Hill; and Troyton Bunbury, lately site manager at St Michael’s C of E Primary School, Highgate.
The Revd Innocent Kiyaga, school chaplain at St Cuthbert Mayne School and Area Dean of Torbay is awarded a BEM for services to the community in Devon and Cornwall.
A BEM is awarded, too, to the Revd Peter King for services to the church and community in south London. He is a Minister in Secular Employment and judge of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) with a particular interest in human rights and migration. Another goes to the Revd Euryl Howells, senior chaplain, Hywel Dda Health Board, for services to the chaplaincy in NHS Wales.
An RAF Chaplain who has provided mental-health, well-being, and spiritual support throughout the pandemic, the Revd Ian Brown, is awarded an OBE.
On the Overseas Honours List, Paolo Conliglio, secretary-general of the Church of England in Italy, is appointed OBE for services to the C of E in that country. He was instrumental in the drafting of the Intesa in 2021, a treaty which recognises the historic presence of Church of England chaplains in Italy and enables chaplaincy churches and congregations to integrate more fully into the Italian legal, social, and fiscal systems.
There is a knighthood for the President of COP26, the Rt Hon. Alok Sharma, “for his contribution to combating climate change through his leadership at COP26 and driving the UK to agree historic agreement from individual countries that will have a major impact in addressing climate change in the future”.
David Wightwick is appointed CMG (Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George) for services to UK humanitarian support. The citation says: “Mr Wightwick’s operational leadership and bravery, including in Ukraine, has ensured emergency medical aid has been rapidly delivered when overseas crisis hits, saving thousands of lives.”
The oldest recipient of an award is Peter Offord Davies from Macclesfield, aged 100. He is awarded a BEM for his work as a reading volunteer at Dean Valley Community Primary School in Bollington. The youngest is 18-year-old Dara Seamus McAnulty, who receives a BEM for his environmental work and for his work with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.