New Year Honours: Hundreds of unsung heroes receive recognition in latest list

Published

5 months ago

December 31, 2024

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More than 1,200 people from across the UK have made it on to this New Year’s honours list, with a lot of famous faces getting recognised.

But while Gareth Southgate, Stephen Fry and Keely Hodgkinson may make the headlines, hundreds of unsung heroes have been recognised for their services to the country’s communities.

Here’s a small selection of the honour recipients from around the UK.

‘A bereaved mother is not to be messed with’

The co-founders of a group supporting families affected by male violence have been made Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours.

Carole Gould and Julie Devey, co-founders of Killed Women, started campaigning after their daughters, Ellie Gould and Poppy Devey Waterhouse, were murdered in their homes.

Both daughters were killed when they ended relationships with their killers.

Now, Ms Gould and Ms Devey are campaigning to see an increase in the starting tariff for murders in the home, from 15 years to 25 years, the same as for killings outside the home.

They say it is “insulting and disrespectful to those women to say that their lives are worth 10 years less”.

“By accepting the OBEs it will continue to shine a light on our campaigning and will keep the many unjust issues surrounding violence against women and girls in the spotlight,” said the co-founders in a statement.

“A bereaved mother is not to be messed with.”

‘All I’ve ever wanted to do is help one person’

A man who raised more than £700,000 for cancer charities said being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) has pushed him to raise even more.

Ivan Black, 62, from Co Tyrone, began raising money after his brother Ian died from leukaemia aged 23.

He then lost his sister to breast cancer and his father to stomach cancer.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do is help one person,” he said.

“When I received the notification I couldn’t read the letter, I had tears in my eyes.”

Mr Black said he wanted to dedicate the honour to everyone who is battling cancer.

He said: “My brother, my sister, my father, this is all for them.

Joint youngest recipient

The joint-youngest person on the honours list is also being recognised for her charitable work in cancer.

18-year-old Mikayla Beames was diagnosed with cancer at just four years old.

She has now been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) after founding Team Mikayla, a charity that grants the wishes of children suffering from cancer and has raised more than £300,000 to do so.

‘Working families are in need of support’

The founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, a parental rights organisation, said her MBE is “important recognition” of the struggles faced by working families.

Joeli Brearley, who is stepping down from the charity after ten years, said being recognised for her services to working families is “what it’s always been about”.

“I think that people don’t really understand how much working families are in need of support right now,” she said.

“The childcare crisis, the issues of parental leave, low-paid work, there’s just so many problems.

Ms Brearley said the charity should “hold [Labour’s] feet to the fire” on its manifesto pledges as it reviews parental leave and introduces new employment rights.

OBE for shipwreck hunting may boost mission

A shipwreck hunter who has been made an OBE hopes the honour will help bring a historic anchor back to the UK to commemorate the Windrush generation.

David Mearns is part of a team trying to bring the anchor of HMT Empire Windrush to the surface.

The ship arrived in Essex in 1948, carrying primarily Caribbean migrants answering Britain’s call to address post-war labour shortages.

It sank off the coast of Algeria in 1954 and now, the Windrush Anchor Foundation is trying to recover its 1.5-tonne anchor to put it on permanent display.

“We want to recover that stern anchor, restore it, and bring it back to England and use it as a centrepiece in a public monument, a memorial to celebrate the contributions that the Windrush generations and their descendants have made to this country in terms of immigration and a positive force for multicultural Britain,” said the 66-year-old.

“I will volunteer my time gladly to make that project happen – it’s five years in the making, and hopefully this OBE will help raise the profile of that.

Mr Mearns said he has located 29 major shipwrecks in the past.

UK

Air India plane crash: Only survivor thought he was ‘going to die’

Published

6 hours ago

June 13, 2025

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Air India plane crash: Only survivor thought he was 'going to die'

The only survivor of the Air India plane crash says he thought he was “going to die”.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, managed to walk away from the wreckage. He was “disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body… but he seems to be out of danger”, according to a doctor who examined him.

There had been 242 people on board flight AI171 when it came down. Among the passengers and crew on the Gatwick-bound aircraft were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a doctors’ hostel in a residential area on Thursday, moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in western India.

India plane crash: Follow live updates

Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer in Ahmedabad, said Mr Ramesh was sat in seat 11A, located next to an emergency exit, and “managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door”.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh said he “still can’t believe” he survived.

He said he thought he “was also going to die” but he then “opened [his] eyes”.

“I pulled out the belt from under my seat and tried to escape. Then I managed to do it,” he told DD India.

Mr Ramesh said “within the first mile” after take-off “it felt like the plane was stuck” and “like something had happened”.

“Then a light came on, like a green and white light came on inside the plane,” he added.

“The pilot was trying to give it a bit of a push to push it forward, but it was struggling. But it went straight into a building.”

He said the side where he landed was not the hostel side and as soon as the plane door broke, he “could see that it was open for [him] and [he had] a chance to get out”.

He said that his brother, Ajay, was seated in a different row on the plane. “He was travelling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him,” he told the Hindustan Times.

‘Bodies all around me’

Mr Ramesh continued: “It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.

“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”

From his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh also met India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking in Leicester, Mr Ramesh’s brother Nayan told Sky’s Shamaan Freeman-Powell that their father was on the phone to Mr Ramesh while the plane was still on the runway.

“My dad called him,” the 27-year-old said. “And Vishwash said ‘oh we’re going to take off soon’.”

Two minutes later, their father received a video call from Mr Ramesh to say the plane had crashed and he had survived.

“He video-called my dad as he crashed and said ‘Oh the plane’s crashed. I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive – how I exited the plane’,” Nayan said.

Air India has confirmed 229 passengers and 12 crew members died, but authorities have not confirmed how many people on the ground were killed or injured.

Who were the victims?

Among the British citizens killed in the crash were Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa, and their four-year-old daughter Sara.

Gloucester Muslim Community said in a statement on Facebook that “no words can truly ease the pain of such a profound loss”.

Also on the flight were married couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek from west London, who had posted a video from the airport on their Instagram feed shortly before boarding.

Gatwick Airport said in a statement that a reception centre was being set up where information and support will be provided for relatives of those on board.

Tata Sons, Air India’s owner, said it would give around £86,000 to the families of each person who died, cover the medical costs of those injured and support the rebuild of the medical hostel.

British nationals who require consular assistance are advised to call 020 7008 5000, while Air India has set up hotlines to provide information on +91 806 2779 200 for foreign nationals or 1800 5691 444 if calling from India.

UK

UK calls for restraint after Israel launches airstrikes on Iran

Published

6 hours ago

June 13, 2025

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UK calls for restraint after Israel launches airstrikes on Iran

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called for “restraint” and “diplomacy” after Israel launched a barrage of airstrikes on Iran early on Friday.

He called reports of Israel’s so-called Operation Rising Lion “concerning”, but stopped short of condemning it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had targeted the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, which he feared would eventually be aimed at Israel.

Iran promised “severe punishment” for the attacks, which killed several top commanders and nuclear scientists, and launched 100 drones towards Israel in an initial response.

Follow latest: Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear sites

In a statement on Friday, Mr Starmer urged “all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently”.

He added: “Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate.

“Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.”

The UK does not appear to have been warned in advance of Israel’s plan to attack Iran.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, had been due to travel to Washington on Friday to meet his American counterpart.

The trip was cancelled once it became known that Israel had launched its operation.

A Whitehall source said the late cancellation of Mr Lammy’s travel plans indicated the UK had not been alerted in advance to the timing of the attack.

However, the UK had been aware of the increasing likelihood of an Israeli mission to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, given the rhetoric from the Israeli government in recent weeks.

Mr Lammy called it a “dangerous moment” and said “stability in the Middle East is vital for global security”.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, British industry minister Sarah Jones also said the UK had not been involved in the Israeli military operation.

It is understood British warplanes are not currently involved in helping to defend Israel’s skies from any Iranian counterattacks.

This could change as the situation develops.

Additional forces could well be sent to a key Royal Air Force base in Cyprus, where Typhoon jets are stationed.

The deployment of reinforcements to RAF Akrotiri has happened in the past during times of crisis in the Middle East.

The US also said it had not been involved in Israel’s attack on Iran, and warned against any retaliation targeting American interests or personnel.

US President Donald Trump had previously urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Iran while Washington negotiates a nuclear deal with the country.

In his first public comment about the attacks, he again urged Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear programme, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel’s attacks “will only get worse”.

Without saying whether he was privy to specific Israeli plans, the US president said “there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end”.

But China, Saudi Arabia and Russia condemned Israel’s strikes, while Japan called the use of military force “deeply regrettable”.

Russia’s foreign ministry called the attack “unprovoked” and “categorically unacceptable” and said it was in breach of the United Nations charter.

Spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry Lin Jian said: “China opposes the violation of Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, opposes the intensification of contradictions, the expansion of conflicts, and the sudden
rise in temperature of the regional situation.”

Takeshi Iwaya, Japan’s foreign minister, said: “Amid ongoing diplomatic efforts, including talks between the United States and Iran, to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue, the use of military force is deeply regrettable.”

UK

Seven men used two teenage girls as ‘sex slaves’ in Rochdale

Published

6 hours ago

June 13, 2025

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Seven men used two teenage girls as 'sex slaves' in Rochdale

Seven men have been found guilty of using two teenage girls as “sex slaves” in Rochdale.

Their trial at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard evidence in relation to 53 sexual offences, believed to have been committed between 2001 and 2006, over 72 days.

One of the victims, who is now in her 30s, told the jury that she was labelled a “prostitute” by social services in Rochdale when allegations against the men first came to light.

Their trial was told that she and the other victim were groomed from the age of 13 and forced to have sex with the men “whenever and wherever” they wanted – including on rancid mattresses, in car parks and alleyways.

Both victims were given drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes by the men involved, the court heard. They were also introduced to taxi drivers for sexual exploitation.

Jurors deliberated for around three weeks – and delivered their unanimous guilty verdicts on Friday.

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