New Year Honours: Denise Lewis and David Harewood among West Midlands names
It's the King's first New Year Honours list.
Last updated 31st Dec 2022
Olympian Denise Lewis and actor and broadcaster David Harewood are among dozens of people from the West Midlands to be recognised in the King's first New Year Honours.
Born in West Bromwich, heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis will be made a dame.
Lewis is one of several members of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games' organising team to be recognised.
Committee chair, John Crabtree, has been knighted while chief executive Ian Reid has been made a CBE.
Birmingham-born actor and broadcaster David Harewood has been made an OBE after becoming a prominent voice for better mental health support.
The 57-year-old, who found widespread fame in the US drama series Homeland, has been honoured for his services to drama and charity.
Comedian Frank Skinner has been made an MBE. Born in Smethwick, the 65-year-old said he kept it quiet just in case it was a mistake.
Skinner told the PA news agency: "Well, to be honest, I haven't told anyone at all, even those closest to me, because I still thought there might be some sort of administrative error.
"But I think it's brilliant," he continued. "I deal mainly in laughs and applause and they disappear into the air quite quickly.
"So getting a proper medal that you can hold on to and polish regularly feels (it) has given my career a sense of permanence that I like."
Awards for West Midlands
As well as Denise Lewis, Frank Skinner and David Harewood, those receiving honours are:
- John Crabtree OBE DL, chair of the organising committee for the Commonwealth Games from Worcestershire, for services to sport and to the community in the West Midlands
- Jatinder Kumar Sharma OBE DL, principal at Walsall College, for services to further education
- Ian Alexander Reid, chief executive officer of the organising committee for the Commonwealth Games from Renfrewshire, for services to sport
- Ralph Graham Findlay, chair of C&C Group plc from Wolverhampton, for services to the hospitality sector
- Matthew Cardover Gordon, chief executive officer of Spectra First from Wolverhampton, for services to vulnerable young people
- Ian Roland Metcalfe, recently chair of Commonwealth Games England from Birmingham, for services to sport
- Sara Louise Gilroy Williams, chief executive of the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce and Industry Limited, for services to the community in Staffordshire.
- Barbara Pauline Beadman, from Stourbridge, for services to the glass industry
- Kate Alexandra Davidson, from Wordsley, for services to bereaved people during Covid-19
- Conrad David Gayle, diversity and inclusion manager at the Crown Prosecution Service from Walsall, for services to law and order
- Chris Jones, project director at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre for the Commonwealth Games from Stourbridge, for services to sport and to the community in the West Midlands.
- Michael John Allen, from Haughton, for services to the community in Staffordshire
- Angela May Ham, recently head of business support services at The National Memorial Arboretum from Lichfield, for services to national commemoration
- Shah Sheikh Shepali Begum, recently outreach and impacts manager for the Commonwealth Games’ legacy team from Birmingham, for services to equality, diversity and inclusion
- Joe Broughton, director of The Conservatoire Folk Ensemble, from Smethwick, services to music
- Lyn Head, from Brierley Hill, for services to the community in Dudley
- Sarah Jane Coffey, executive assistant to the chief executive officer for the Commonwealth Games from Lichfield, for services to sport
- Patricia Ward-Jones, a charity fundraiser from Bridgnorth, has been awarded the BEM for charitable services to terminally ill children
- Bethan Louise Stimpson, recently head of legacy for Birmingham 2022, from Birmingham, for services to young people
- Andrea Susan Diane Reynolds, recently a constable at West Midlands Police.