A FORMER director of faith and public life at the Archbishops’ Council, the Revd Dr Malcolm Brown, and the artist and sculptor Sir Antony Gormley are among those named in the King’s Birthday Honours list, published on Friday evening.
Dr Brown, who retired in 2024 after 17 years in post (News, 16 August 2024), is appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the public witness of the Church of England.
Dr Brown spent ten years as the executive secretary of the William Temple Foundation in Manchester before being appointed Principal of the Eastern Region Ministry Course within the Cambridge Theological Federation. He was located in Kent and Southampton during his early ministry as a parish priest and industrial missioner.
Sir Antony, who was raised as a Roman Catholic and whose most famous work is his gigantic Angel of the North, in Gateshead, has been appointed a Companion of Honour for services to art. His sculpture Doubt was displayed in the niche below the north-west tower of Wells Cathedral from 2021 until last summer.
The Swedish philanthropist Hans Kristian Rausing receives a knighthood for services to the arts. Together with his wife, he set up the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, which gives about £50 million a year to projects across health, welfare, and the arts. In 2022, they donated £550,000 to Gloucester Cathedral for its cloister project (News, 5 August 2022). The charity was renamed the Julia Rausing Trust in 2024 after Mrs Rausing’s death.
LIVE LONGER BETTERThe Revd Dr Malcolm Brown, appointed OBE
Joanna Berry, the daughter of Anthony Berry, who was killed by the IRA in the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing, has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), for services to peace and reconciliation.
Three leaders from the Cathedrals Group of Universities have also been appointed CBE, all for services to higher education: Professor Sarah Greer, the Vice Chancellor of Winchester University, Professor Jane Longmore, lately Vice Chancellor of the University of Chichester, and Philip Walker, the Chair of Council at Roehampton University.
Among other CBEs are the chief executive of the charity Forever Manchester, Nicholas Massey, for services to the community in Greater Manchester; Lady Myners, who was the chair of the Royal Academy, for services to the arts; the tennis player Virginia Wade OBE (whose father was the Archdeacon of Durban), for services to tennis and to charity; and Stuart Shilson LVO DL, lately chair of St John Ambulance, for services to the Order of St John and to change management. He is also an honorary steward at Westminster Abbey.
OBE appointments for charity work include those of the chair of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, Rosie Ferguson; the chair of the London Community Foundation, Russell Prior; and the founder and chief executive of Hope4Kidz, Vivien Watts.
Francesca Roberts, who was the chief executive of the construction-industry charity CRASH, has been appointed OBE for services to homelessness charities and hospices. Also: Finlay Scott, co-founder of the charity Clink, for services to homelessness charities and hospices. In April of last year, the Clink opened a restaurant, where the food is prepared and cooked by female prisoners, to positive reviews (News, 5 April 2024).
Other OBEs include the international ambassador of Religions for Peace, Imam Dr Sayed Abbas, for services to peacebuilding and to interfaith dialogue; the Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, the Rt Revd Kenneth Nowakowski, for services to Ukrainians; Paul Anticoni, who joined World Jewish Relief as chief executive in 2006, for services to vulnerable people; and Andrew Copson, the chief executive of Humanists UK since 2010 and president of Humanists International, for services to the non-religious community; the chair of the WWI Sikh Memorial Fund, Captain Jagjit Sohal, for services to the commemoration of Commonwealth soldiers who served Great Britain; and the chair of Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust, Theresa Mason, for services to education.
Among the OBEs for services to music is the director of music at the University of St Andrews, Michael Downes, the founder of Young Voices, David Lewis, and the previous director of the BBC Proms, David Pickard.
©CBM Global/EshuchiThe chief executive of CBM UK, Kirsty Smith, appointed OBE
Among the international recipients is the chief executive of the Christian charity CBM UK, Kirsty Smith, for services to people living with disabilities overseas.
Appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs) are the hospital chaplain and spiritual-care manager at Mersey and West Lancashire NHS Trust, the Revd Peter Abrams, for services to the community in that area; the Rector of Glendermott, in the diocese of Derry & Raphoe, the Revd Samuel Boyd; the founding member of Bradford Courts Chaplaincy Service and Magistrate Supplemental List, Mary Carroll; the founder, Ruth Fox, of Footprints in the Community, which addresses isolation and poverty in the Redcar area, and began in a church Ruth Fox; the chair of World Vision UK, Richard Izard; Allison Moise-Dixon, head teacher of St Bernard’s High School, a Roman Catholic school in Southend, Essex; the heraldic designer and calligrapher Timothy Noad, who has given long service to the College of Arms; the National Chaplain for RAF Air Cadets, the Revd James Pitkin; the previous director of academic learning and action and chief executive of St Christopher’s Hospice, Dr Heather Richardson; Sarah Smith, Birmingham Diocesan Director of Education, and chair of the Birmingham Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust, for services to education; Captain John Thornhill, National Parade Marshal of the Royal British Legion, for services to the ex-service community and national events; and a volunteer at the Samaritans, Annette Ware.
The actor and playwright Tracy-Ann Oberman has been appointed MBE for services to Holocaust education and combating anti-Semitism. The Holocaust survivor and educator Manfred Goldberg is also appointed MBE.
In the international list, Caroline Lamb, the founder and chief executive of Christian Relief, Education, Skills & Sustainability (CRESS), is appointed MBE for her work supporting South Sudanese refugees.
Among the Medallists of the Order of the British Empire are Doris Levenson, the founder and editor of Sussex Jewish News, for services to Jewish and interfaith charities in Sussex; Christy Acton, the founder of Standing Tall, for services to the homeless in the West Midlands; Luba Brown, Executive Officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, for services to Ukrainian refugees; the Revd Reginald Sweet, for his work with the veteran community in Gosport, Hampshire; and Paul Bunce, Membership Support Officer for the Royal British Legion in Wiltshire, for services to veterans.
Also recognised are Paul Nixon, for services to Ukrainian Refugees; Rita McCall, organiser of the Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary Magdalene’s, Newark, for services to the community in Newark; the Revd Brian Jennings for services to the community in Walton-on-the-Naze, in Essex; Wesley McDowell, a Northern Ireland Prison Service chaplain, for services to prisoners and their families; Jacqueline Wood, founding ember of the prison charity Fine Cell Work and a member of the Guild of Faith at Westminster Abbey, for services to charity; and William Sudworth, organiser of the Duke of Edinburgh Centre, at St Mary’s, Bowdon, for services to young people and the community in Trafford, Greater Manchester. The centre was set up because of the lack of capacity in schools in the area.
In the overseas list, Michael McCarthy, a lay canon and former director of music at Washington National Cathedral, in the United States, is awarded the BEM for services to music and to UK/US relations.
