A Hove businessman, charity chief and author has spoken of his surprise as the King recognised his support for young people in the New Year Honours List.
Rob Starr, 55, the founder of the Starr Trust, has been made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to young people and to philanthropy.
The Starr Trust helps young people from 10 to 18 years old to fulfil their potential through sports, arts and education.
Mr Starr said that he was flattered, adding: “Receiving this award was a surprise, of course. I am so very grateful for it and thankful.
“I mean, why me! I just try to do what is good and right which I think the majority of us do.”
Mr Starr started his first business selling insurance from his bedroom just a few years after leaving school and now has operations in Britain and abroad, with his base still in Hove.
He set up the Starr Trust charity in 2008 after losing his father Edward to cancer. He said that he wanted to give others what his father gave him – a belief that he could achieve anything.
Since setting up the charity, he has taken on a number of daunting fundraising challenges – including running a series of marathons and swimming the English Channel.
And he has built a wide network of supporters to raise funds as well as to provide the many opportunities on offer.
He wrote a book about going from being a non-swimmer to a Channel swimmer called From Starr to Starrfish.
He has also written two musicals, two plays and two novels, with a third due out in 2025.
Mr Starr’s first novel, What the Tide Brings Back, is a supernatural thriller set in Brighton. His second novel, The First Widow, is the first in a series about a fraud investigator Kiara Fox.
To read more about the work of the Starr Trust, click here.
Take note BHCC !
This man should have been taken more seriously where King Alfred redev was concerned. And his charity would have occupied spsce in any new scheme.
Congratulations, Rob! this is fabulous news.
He was taken seriously by the Council – but his partner – Crest – withdrew!
The council sectect his development proppsals as the preferred bidder.
How much more serious did you want the council to be?? They don’t just pick such bids out of a hat.
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2019/08/13/starr-trust-boss-says-i-wont-walk-away-from-king-alfred/
“However, the Starr Trust was an equal partner when the winning bid was accepted by Brighton and Hove City Council and we have no intention of walking away.”
After the Crest withdrawal and a while later, Rob Starr made an offer to officers but they were not open to persuasion. Its too bad, because he was not a hit and run developer. He was a Hove resident who would have been permanently accountable for any final KA scheme because the Starr Trust was to be based there. And as this Award indicates, he is an exceptional man.