From the oldest, 104 years old, to the youngest, 11-year-old twins, most honors are given to ordinary people who have performed extraordinary acts for their communities.
Dance teacher Angela Redgrave, 104, of the Bristol School for Dancing, who taught for 70 years, receives a BEM. Twins Elena and Ruben Evans-Guillen of Warrington, Cheshire are the youngest recipients and receive BEM after raising £ 50,000 for the NHS over the past three years.
Her father, Mark Evans-Guillen, 47, an office worker, said the family was “excited.” Elena said it was “unreal,” while Ruben said he was “very surprised.” “It’s been really hard not to tell my friends,” Elena said. The family first became involved with fundraising as a focus for children when they were six years old, as they both have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Dr Raghib Ali, 46, a consultant in acute medicine at Oxford University hospitals, was appointed OBE after leaving his job as a research epidemiologist at Cambridge University to volunteer without pay for the pandemic.
He returned to the front lines during the four episodes of coronavirus, in addition to advising the government on ethnicity and Covid-19.
He said he had experienced a “difficult situation” growing up in the 1980s because his father lost his job and his eyesight. He relied on free school meals, but worked hard and eventually attended Cambridge University. He hoped that his honor “will meet the children, the young people of today who are growing up, whatever their circumstances, it is possible to achieve this at the highest level.”
Alexis Bowater, 52, a former television news reader in Devon, hoped her OBE, for activism and services for women’s safety and equality, would help highlight the problem. Victim of harassment, he successfully campaigned to introduce harassment protection orders.
He said: “I think it’s very important to understand that violence against women and girls is the new pandemic. This is not a criminal justice issue. It’s a public health issue. It’s a problem for all of us.”
She is also known for her work erecting a statue of Nancy Astor in Plymouth on the centenary of her election as the first woman MP to hold her seat in parliament.
Patricia Anne Husselbee, 80, of Newport, South Wales, receives a BEM for her 64 years of service as a volunteer for the poppy appeal of the Royal British Legion. She said, “It’s a worthy cause, it has to be there.” She was “shocked” when she heard that she was recognized. But, he said, he didn’t “do it for medals. I do it because it’s necessary.”
Alex Griffiths, a 22-year-old caregiver from Brierley Hill, West Midlands, was also surprised by his BEM. After caring for her mother, who has been suffering from multiple sclerosis since she was five, she now also cares for her grandparents.
Describing a normal day, the intern nurse said, “It was: down [his grandparents’] home early in the morning, then go to college, then get back down from yours and then at night again. And he does it again every day of the week. So you’re really good at juggling. “
On his honor he said: “I still don’t believe it. Someone will walk in the door in a minute and say, “Ha, I understand you.” Not being able to tell people is the worst thing, because he almost does it: “Has this really happened?” I’m still in shock. “