15 incredible Londoners in the New Year’s Honours List
In a list that was largely dominated by health staff and civil servants this year, Christopher Woolard, who served as interim Chief Exec of the FCA in 2020, became a Commander of the British Empire, while Kate Nicholls, a vocal advocate for the hospitality industry throughout this terrible year for bars, pubs and restaurants, received an OBE.
But away from the world of business, hundreds of local heroes were recognised for their hard work and dedication.
City PM zoomed in on 15 remarkable Londoners who were honoured in the New Year Honours 2021 list but you may never have heard of.
Jason Allen BEM (34) – Camden
As a youth worker at St Mary’s Centre he has worked with thousands of young people in Greater London at risk of exclusion, gang exploitation, kidnap and serious violence. The project started 15 year ago.
His main priority is gang intervention, where he reduces violence through intensive 1:1 mentoring, and group mentoring, to ensure that young people can process and articulate their anxieties in a more productive way.
Lisa Barker BEM (28) – Bromley
In her role as a firefighter, Barker volunteered for Operation Braidwood, a London Fire Brigade initiative supporting blue light partners during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Through this work she worked to prepare the deceased for transportation to the mortuary during the Covid-19 crisis, while taking suitable precaution to minimise the coronavirus spread.
Janette Collins MBE (61) – Hackney
Affectionately known as ‘Mama Hackney’, the founder of Crib Youth Intervention has played a key role in supporting young people and the wider community in Hackney since she was 18 years old. Collins set up the social inclusion project The Crib in 1999, a charity which helps young people find work and get back into education.
She created the ‘Trading Places’ scheme during a time of increased tension in London due to stop and search, providing a bridge between young people and the police, enabling young people to understand facts about the police, their duties, and the law around stop and search.
Shahab Uddin MBE (43) – Kilburn
As the British Olympic Association’s Head of Legal he has overseen two Summer (London and Rio) and three Winter (Vancouver, Sochi and PyeongChang) Olympic Games, negotiating every contract for athletes, visitors, accommodation, sponsors, licensing and all the business of an Olympic Games.
Since the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to Covid-19, he has renegotiated over 100 detailed legal contracts, including contracts with key suppliers encompassing venues, pre-Games training camps, hotels, accommodations and travel as well as all the sponsor and licensee agreements.
Freda Davis BEM (81) – Biggin Hill
As a keen gardener she raised money for a range of charities over 13 years by opening her personal gardens to the public several times a year, both as part of the National Garden Scheme, and independently for the benefit of the NSPCC.
Through her garden openings she raised approximately £72,000 for the NSPCC and other charities, alongside her separate contribution to the larger annual efforts of the National Garden Scheme.
Dr Evelyn Corner MBE (36) – Acton
Corner is a physiotherapist and critical care specialist at Brunel University London who initiated and led the rapid development and deployment of the online education programme for acute Covid ICU services, developing content and interactive web systems for urgent online delivery in March 2020.
She produced two further education programmes: one to prepare NHS staff to provide post-ICU Covid rehabilitation services, currently at a rate of 60 clinicians trained per week; and one to prepare general practitioners to deliver care in the community for patients post intensive care.
Elizabeth Crump MBE (41) – Shoredtich
As the National Strategic Lead at ‘What Next?’ Crump has worked to convene the cultural sector and improve the level of the sector engagement with policy-making. ‘What Next?’ works to bring together arts and cultural organisations, funders and policy makers to articulate and strengthen the role of culture in society.
Crump acts as a bridge between the sector and government, encouraging a diverse range of voices and opinions to be heard and ensuring that regional perspectives are included. During the Covid-19 crisis she has supported the sector by articulating the evolving needs of the cultural sector to the government.
Laura Henry MBE (52) – Croydon
Henry spent over 30 years working in various roles in the Early Years sector, providing professional advice to individuals and organisations across the Early Years sector nationally and internationally, including brands and children’s media.
She is also vice president of the British Association of Early Childhood Organisation, a national charity which supports Early Years educators with training, resources and professional networks and campaigns for quality education for the youngest children.
Dr Timothy Ho MBE (52) – Richmond
As Medical Director in 2014, Ho was a key leader when the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust took on the failing Wexham Park Hospital, overseeing the transformation of the hospital resulting in the hospital moving from special measures to a ‘good’ performance in just one year.
Moreover, Ho was able to mobilise and support senior colleagues to step into emergency response command roles, quadrupling critical care capacity, creating segregated pathways, retraining 500 colleagues into frontline Covid-19 roles, and a 900% increase in video and phone consultations to maintain outpatient work.
Alan John King BEM (67) – Barnet
King has been Captain of the 1st Barnet Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Association for the past 42 years and under his leadership the company has grown into one of the largest of its kind in England and has continued to operate during the pandemic.
In addition to this, he is also a full time as a primary school teacher and carries out other volunteer roles including at Barnet Hospital Radi.
Timothy Root MBE (69) – Wimbledon
As assistant Head of the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service he is a leading expert in the technical element of NHS pharmacy services, taking licensed medicines and formulating them into medicines suitable for the special clinical needs of individual patients.
He was chief pharmacist at the Royal Marsden Hospital and was chair of the British Oncology Pharmacy Association. During the pandemic, he helped coordinate NHS hospital pharmacy aseptic services across the country, and oversaw the development of the technical pharmacy services to the Nightingale hospitals.
Keith Axbey BEM (58) – New Malden
Axbey has been a volunteer scout leader for over 30 years, and has provided opportunities for children and young people to develop confidence and life skills through cub scout meetings, camps, events and leadership opportunities.
He mentored his first cub in 1979, and has since mentored hundreds of children, encouraging them to join the cub movement.
Carl Konadu BEM (28) – Camden
Konadu is the co-founder of ‘2-3 Degrees’, a not-for-profit social enterprise which aims to inspire and equip young people to make positive decisions through motivational talks and workshops.
During the first national lockdown, they offered free weekly online ‘Stay Ready’ workshops, such as staying positive, self mental health and, in partnership with companies including Microsoft, Google, TikTok and local organisations.
Azizur Rahmen BEM (49) – Hackney
Rahmen is employed as a section manager in Marks & Spencer Hackney Branch as part of a team of food managers and stepped up at the start of the pandemic to ensure his store remained the top performing small food store within the business for 10 weeks despite a large increase in customers.
He provided training for colleagues quickly and developed creative ways to offer service to his vulnerable customers, as at the start of the pandemic M&S did not have a delivery service.
In his own time he took telephone orders and shopping to those customers who could not leave their homes.
Martine Clark MBE (63) – Harrow
Clark is currently the Executive Headteacher of Byron Court Primary School which serves a highly diverse community, where the proportion of pupils speaking English as an additional language is above average. She oversaw significant transformation within the school, focusing first on the inconsistent quality of teaching and learning identified by Ofsted, then on management and leadership.
Her leadership led to Byron Court School being awarded Mayor of London’s Schools for Success on three occasions; and were in the top 10 per cent highest performing schools nationally in 2017 and 2018.