Former Chief Executive of EEEA included in Queen's Birthday Honours list
He helped set up the charity in 2000 and transform it in a non-stop service over 20 years later
The founder and former CEO of the East Anglian Air Ambulance has been included on the Queen's birthday honours list.
Patrick Peale, who retired from the charity last June is to be given an MBE for services to emergency care in the East- namely growing them into a non-stop service in the past 20 plus years.
"We absolutely had no idea what it could possibly become like"
But he told us that he can't take all the credit for the organisation's transformation:
"I can honestly say that when we started the charity- we absolutely had no idea what it could possibly become like. The only reason it's been able to grow and develop in the way it has, is because we have had and continue to have such fantastic support from people in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire".
"That growth has been entirely down to the generosity and it's given us the opportunity to keep pushing the charity forward and that's not going to stop because sadly people will continue to suffer trauma and medical emergencies and they will continue to need the services of these absolutely outstanding people".
"I think I probably just stayed sitting down for about 10 to 15 minutes"
He re-called the moment he found out about the news and told us that it's yet to truly sink in:
"You look at it and think, 'I wonder if I should I open it?' Then I opened it, read the first line then had to sit-down. Then I read it again, and then I read it again. I think I probably just stayed sitting down for about 10 to 15 minutes just letting the whole thing sink in. It was such an enormous surprise and it just made me feel gob-smacked".
"I'm still trying to get used to the idea of it all. It's a huge honour and I think my most overriding feeling is that I'm just so humbled that my friends, colleagues and peers decided that I should be nominated for this award".
Mr Peal is the only person in Norfolk who's being awarded with an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Those being given an BEM in Norfolk:
Margaret Seaman, who's 93 years old from Caistor
She's been awarded for charitable service in Great Yarmouth particularly during the pandemic.
● She has raised more than £50,000 for local charities- largely through knitting extraordinary installations, including one of Sandringham and another of hospital.
● She presented the NHS Knittingale with an A&E department, three wards, a helipad, fifty-eight knitted figures, and it all sat beneath an enormous rainbow.
● She raised money for Norfolk’s three main hospitals; the James Paget Hospital, The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by displaying her works which include Knittingale Hospital, Great Yarmouth Sea Front at The Forum in Norwich and all over the country.
Sarah-Jane Douglass, who's 52 years old from Norwich.
She's being awarded for services to the community in Norwich during the pandemic
● She set up a local community volunteer group (the Taverham, Thorpe Marriott & Drayton Covid-19 Help Group) at the beginning of Covid-19 in March 2020 for elderly and isolated members of the community.
● She began by making mass leaflet drops to households ensuring everyone in the community was aware of the help they could get from her volunteer group. Without her initiative many people would not have received the essential help they desperately needed.
● She collected Christmas presents and toys to gift to the children of these families as well as giving Christmas hampers to each hospital ward and pamper bags to nurses.
● She established the Taverham, Thorpe Marriott & Drayton Food Bank with the support of the local council and district councils. She galvanised the community to provide weekly food and cash donations to the extent that the Food Bank is able to feed around 30 families a week.
Natalie Bissessur, who's 32 years old from Wretham
She's being awarded for Services to Adult Social Care during Covid-19
● She joined Sunnyside House as a support worker on minimum wage in October 2008. In the years since she has gained experience, training and qualifications and gone on to become an integral leader within this organisation that works to provide support to young adults with learning disabilities.
● During the pandemic, she moved in (with her husband, another dedicated employee at Sunnyside House) to the residency and lived there for 11 months between March 2020 and February 2021. They cared for all 13 residents, 24 hours a day, whilst the rest of the team were furloughed. This ensured no positive Covid-19 tests throughout the pandemic for any of the high-risk residents.
● She has also been integral recently in the development of domiciliary care as an additional service by Sunnyside House. This will enable the transformative MyLife programme run by Sunnyside House (a learning and support programme to build the independence of individuals with learning disabilities) to have an even wider reach into the community.
● On top of the demands of her role, she has obtained NVQ Levels 2, 3 and 4 whilst being a manager, furthering her skillset to best support those in her care. Natalie will cover a night shift when needed and is never too far from truly being hands on when required.