THE former Dean of Carlisle the Very Revd Mark Boyling, who retired in 2022 after 18 years in post, is among the few clerics named in the New Year Honours list, published on Monday evening.
He is appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Carlisle Cathedral. He oversaw the development of the multi-million pound Fratry project — an education, events, and hospitality space in the cathedral precinct — and, through the Cathedrals Measure 2021, helped the cathedral to become one of the first to achieve charitable status.
Contributions to sport, education, the arts, and academia are widely recognised in the list, which appears distinctly secular compared with previous years (News, 5 January 2024). It is the first to be issued under Sir Keir Starmer.
Among more than 1200 recipients, only two references are made to churches. Interfaith relations feature more prominently, but it is services to charity and health and social care — particularly work in cancer research and treatment — which dominate.
Among those to receive the highest honour is the British professor, immunologist, and scientific administrator Sir Leszek Krzysztof Borysiewicz, a former chair of Cancer Research, who is awarded a Knight Grand Cross for services to cancer and clinical research, medicine, and charities. The children’s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson is also awarded a Knight Grand Cross, for services to literature.
Knighthoods are awarded to the actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, who is president of the mental-health charity Mind, for services to mental-health awareness, the environment, and charity; to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for political and public service; and to the former England football manager Gareth Southgate, for services to Association Football.
Among those appointed Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) are the historian and novelist Robert Harris (Precipice, Act of Oblivion, Conclave) for services to literature (Features, 25 November 2022); the actors Sarah Lancashire and Carey Mulligan, for services to drama; the horticulturalist, author, and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh MBE, who hosted the Classic FM Christmas from Buckingham Palace, for services to horticulture.
The Director of the Faith and Belief Forum, John Bateman-Champain, is appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to faith and integration. The Forum works towards building strong interfaith relations across communities. Hina Bokhari, the co-founder of Naz Legacy Foundation, is appointed OBE for services to young people, charity, and interfaith relations. Also for interfaith work is Elizabeth Harris-Sawczenko, Interfaith Adviser for both the Forum for Peace UK and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Lee Castleton, Josephine Hamilton, Christopher Head, and Seema Misra, who campaigned for sub-postmasters amid the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, are appointed OBE for services to justice, as is Dr Kay Linnell, a forensic accountant, expert witness, and key adviser to the Justice for the Subpostmasters Alliance.
The chief executive of Royal British Legion Industries, Lisa Farmer, is appointed OBE for services to the Armed Forces community. The Director of the Wiener Holocaust Library, Dr Tobias Simpson, is appointed OBE for services to the Holocaust Memorial. The chief executive of All Saints Catholic Collegiate, Stoke-on-Trent, Margaret Yates, is appointed OBE for services to education. The saxophonist and composer Professor John Harle, who is director of the Leadership Academy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, is appointed OBE for services to music. The Parish Clerk for St Magnus the Martyr in the City of London, Michael Cooper, who is the director of UK Co-ordinating Body, Grants Hub, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is appointed OBE for public service.
Among others appointed MBE is the chair of the Friends of Friendless Churches, Roger Evans, for services to Ecclesiastical Heritage in England and Wales. The charity, founded in 1957, is dedicated to rescuing and protecting historic places of worship.
The Revd Andrew Paget, a Senior Force Chaplain for Avon and Somerset Police, is appointed MBE for services to policing and to the community, as is the Revd Stephen Redman, the Minister of Ark Church, in York, who is a volunteer for the charity Candlelighters, in Leeds, for services to the families of children with cancer. The Revd Dr Kenneth Hopkins, who chairs the trustees of Heart of Mercia Multi Academy Trust in Hereford is appointed MBE (services to education), as is a former NSM in Peterborough diocese, the Revd Dr John Smith, the founder and Patron of Cransley Hospice (services to Palliative Care in the hospice and in the community).
Also appointed MBE are the Organist and Master of the Music at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, Michael Harris, for services to music; and the chief executive of Liverpool Seafarers Centre, John Wilson, for services to seafarers’ welfare.
Moawia Bin-Sufyan is appointed MBE for services to community cohesion and interfaith relations in South Wales, as is Lucien Gubbay, also for services to interfaith relations. A Near Neighbours Coordinator of Thrive Together Birmingham, Rabiyah Latif, is also appointed MBE for services to faith and community cohesion.
Eleanor Angel and Frank Harding, trustees of the Association of Jewish Refugees, are appointed MBE for services to the Holocaust Memorial, as is Mike Katz, the National Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement (political and public service); Amanda Bomsztyk, Northern Regional Director of the Community Security Trust, is appointed MBE for services to the Jewish community; Leslie Lipert, also for services to the Jewish Community.
Others appointed MBE include Michael Bennion, for services to Scouting and to young people; Anthony Hill for services to the Samaritans and to young people; David Matthews, founder of the Listener, also for services to the Samaritans and vulnerable people; the Barnardo’s foster carers Charles and Dianne Hubbert, for services to foster care; Kerry-Anne Cooper, a Police Chaplain for Hertfordshire Constabulary, for services to the community in Hemel Hempstead.
James Coyle, the chair of trustees for the Blessed Holy Family Catholic Academy Trust in Harrow, is appointed MBE for services to education; the choirmaster of Longside Parish Church of Scotland, Gordon Hay, for services to the promotion of the Doric language; and Barbara Gardner, the founding chief executive of the charity Animals Interfaith Alliance, and treasurer of the RSPCA, for services to Animal Welfare.
Among those awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) are Norman Philip, chief executive, coordinator, and chair of the Christian Kitchen in Waltham Forest (services to tackling homelessness); Jonathan and Veronica Compton, chaplaincy volunteers for HM Prison Morton Hall (services to HM Prison and Probation Service); Emma Cox for charitable services to the Royal British Legion; Postmasters Hemandra Hindocha of Westcotes Post Office, and Richard Haley of Epworth Post Office (services to the Post Office and to the community); the Rt Revd Mgr Bryan McCanny, of Limavady Parish, for services to the community in County Londonderry; and Celia Webster, founder of the Challenge Group and co-founder of Wave for Change in London, for services to children and people with special educational needs and disabilities.
The Prime Minister said: “Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities. They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this government does. The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution.”