The King has recognised a number of people from Brighton and Hove in the New Year Honours List, published tonight (Monday 29 December).
They include Glynis Gillam, a case manager for working age members at Blind Veterans UK, who was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her work with veterans suffering from sight loss.
She joined the charity when it was called St Dunstan’s, moving from its former landmark building in Ovingdean to its centre in Rustington two years ago.
Another expert in eye care has also been awarded a BEM. Until retiring this time last year, Joy White was head of service for orthoptics at the Sussex Eye Hospital, in Brighton.
She has been involved with the Brighton Lusaka Health Link charity, in Zambia, training eye health care clinicians. She has also volunteered with Orbis, an international ophthalmology charity.
She has also worked with another charity, Iasis, carrying out vision screening in Romanian and Albanian orphanages and in schools for the visually impaired in Romania and Sarajevo in the 1990s.
Her voluntary work has also extended to chairing the southern branch of the British and Irish Orthoptic Society.
Another NHS boss was honoured. Louise Ansari, 58, is a non-executive director of NHS England and previously chaired Healthwatch England, the independent watchdog.
She was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to health equity.
Her previous roles include being a non-executive director and deputy chair of the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board, which commissions services in Brighton and Hove and across the wider county.
Before that, Ms Ansari, from Crowborough, was the governing body lay member for patient and public involvement at NHS East Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Disability sports champion and charity boss Andy Sellins, from Westdene, Brighton, has been made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for charitable service.
He was chief executive of the Change Foundation until earlier this year, having started the charity after setting up a cricket programme in London in 1981, just weeks after the Brixton riots.
Lighting designer Paule Constable, 59, who lives near the Seven Dials, has also been made an OBE – for services to theatre.
She has worked in the West End – winning several Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Lighting and a Tony Award on Broadway.
She has also worked with the Royal Opera, English National Opera and Glyndebourne as well as the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Brighton businessman Mark McCulloch has been made an MBE for services to marketing and to the hospitality industry.
Mr McCulloch has worked in key roles for brands such as Lastminute.com, Barclaycard, Yo! Sushi, Prezzo and Pret A Manger.
He set up his own consultancy Supersonic Inc seven years ago and, more recently, produced the HospitalityMarketingGuru educational course.
The 49-year-old has been a non-executive director of Brighton Fringe and been a brand adviser and mentor to numerous restaurant businesses including Dishoom.
One of the highest honours has gone to a Labour MP who previously represented Brighton and Hove as part of the South East England region in the European Parliament.
Anneliese Dodds, 47, has been made a DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire).
She now represents Oxford East in the House of Commons and was a minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government until earlier this year.
Dame Anneliese said that she was “delighted” to have received the award, adding: “It’s always about the team – from my MP’s staff to civil servants to party staff and everyone who makes Oxford East such an amazing place.”
An honour for services to NHS equity? Would that be the NHS Trust that sends health visitors out in large Chelsea Tractors painted expensively in LGBTQWERTY messaging?
Perhaps you should visit the orthoptics department?
No because she isn’t connected to the RSCH.
And what’s your problem with equity? It isn’t just about the LGBT community or ethnic minorities.
It’s about groups such as men – especially working class men – who are reluctant to go to the doctors and specific groups of women who don’t take up the screening programmes.
Excellent point Chris, bowel cancer was being missed a lot due to that stigma,.for example.
Oh my goodness, the eye clinic is like something from the dark age. Literally. Most of the rooms and corridors don’t have windows. It’s understaffed. Some of those poor people have to work for hours and hours with no fresh air or daylight.
Even the switchboard lack of operator most of the time.
People are left waiting for hours because paperwork is just so random.
Actually having meaningless letters after your name is just pathetic.
Sir Lewis Hamilton
Sir Keir Starmer
Sir Dave Beckham
What a collection of losers
Honour? What does this king know about honour? Some might say he’s a traitor.
BTW for people to be honoured they need to be nominated.
There is a form on the Cabinet Office website
The more info you provide on what they have done and what they have changed and who they have helped the better.
The scrutiny committee relies on the nomination form and supporting letters to inform their decisions.
So if you’re wondering why Milly from the Community Centre or Frank from the football club hasn’t got a gong it’s because they haven’t been nominated.