Heroes aged 18 to 103 win New Year Honours

A World War Two Mosquito pilot aged 103 and a charity founder of just 18 are the oldest and youngest people awarded New Year’s Honours on Tuesday.

They were among hundreds of heroes recognised for their work which in many cases has transformed lives in their local communities.

RAF Veteran Colin Bell won the DFC as a Pathfinder pilot flying the Mosquito fighter-bomber with 608 Squadron and survived 50 raids over Germany during WWII.

The former Flight Lieutenant was awarded the British Empire Medal for his charitable fund-raising and for public speaking to keep the memory of veteran combatants alive.

Earlier this year he gave a stern warning on defence spending and said: “(It is) important to have adequate defence. Unfortunately this is something I think your everyday Briton has rather lost sight of.

“I remember the warnings given by Sir Winston Churchill that people were disregarding.
“Believe it or not until 1938 the British government were trying to persuade other people in Europe to disarm, while Germany was arming up to the teeth. How stupid can you get?
“I hope the lessons are being learnt, albeit late in my lifetime.”
Two other centenarians were recognised, former RAF navigator George Kelly, 101, made an MBE for services to the Royal British Legion and Roy Gibson, 100, who received a BEM having been the first director general of the European Space Agency.
The youngest recipients were Mikayla Beames, 18, awarded a BEM for fundraising supporting children with cancer and para-swimmer William Ellard, made an MBE after winning gold in the 200m freestyle S14 event at the Paris Paralympics.
Mikayla from Wantage, Oxon was diagnosed with brain cancer aged 4 and has been undergoing chemotherapy for 14 years.

She said: “When I was about eight I said to mum, ‘What can I do to help other children who are going through what I am going through.
“It was such a hard time going through treatment, I wanted to create smiles for children.”
Her mum Natasha, 43, helped her found the charity Team Mikayla which sets out to grant any wish for one day to a child suffering cancer up to a value of £500.
Mikayla said: “So far we have raised £350,000 to do this. One little boy wrote to us and said he wanted to be a knight for the day.
“We sent him to Warwick Castle for the day and he did some jousting. That just warmed my heart.”  
The first wish she granted was a family day out at Chessington World of Adventures for a boy named Reggie on her ward at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, who has since died.
Asked how she felt about the award, Mikayla who is studying at college and hopes to become an oncology nurse said: “It’s so crazy.
“No one sets out doing this sort of thing to win any award. I just can’t believe it, it still doesn’t seem real. I keep waiting for it to sink in.”
Former Army nurse John Hardy, 67, who lost his sight ten years ago due to blood clotting in his retinal arteries, was awarded the BEM for setting up the Bridgwater Community Hub in Somerset for veterans and people with dementia.

He and his black Labrador guide dog Sidney have walked more than 1,000 miles around their local community since the pandemic delivering prescriptions to people who need them.

His community hub operates as an information centre, foodbank and breakfast club for anyone who needs it.

Mr Hardy attended the event with his wife Colleen but fought back tears as he explained Sidney, his other “other half” could not be there as he was being treated for arthritis in his back legs.

He said: “It’s been very hard for me today not having my “other half” here but he’s OK, he’s had an injection that’s all. He’s a major part of this.

“I don’t do anything without Sid, half of that BEM belongs to him.”

Mr Hardy served during the Gulf War in 1991 where he helped save an SAS trooper from a gunshot wound that had passed straight through him, narrowly missing a kidney.    

He stayed in touch for the special forces soldier after the war and still cares for the veteran from Newport who is now 70 and has struggled with PTSD and dementia.

Mr Hardy whose breakfast club regularly attracts 40 veterans joked about what they would make of his BEM.

He said: “I expect they’ll think it stands for Breakfast Every Morning or maybe Bacon, Egg and Mushrooms.
“Joking aside, I’m here representing lots of volunteers who work at the hub and I think this country runs on the work of volunteers.

“We do not have the resources to do everything that is required so volunteers are needed everywhere.”
Jason and Gail O’Shea, both 58, were among very few couples to receive an MBE each after founding Wipe Away Those Tears in Brentwood, Essex 18 years ago.

The charity aims to offer speedy help to seriously-ill children and all its overheads are paid for by Jason’s IT business Fos.net which helps small and medium firms solve their tech problems.

Jason who was inspired to found the charity in 2006 after the death of his father Phil said: “That means that if someone donates £10 then the whole of that £10 goes to do something wonderful”.  

Dame Anne Rafferty, an Honours Committee chair, said of the awards: “The New Year Honours will celebrate unsung heroes and we are here to start the singing.”

She added that recipients had been chosen from across the country “from the Orkneys to the Scilly Isles” and said it was a “delight” to introduce some of them to the public.