New Year Honours in the North West as Keely Hodkinson tops off stellar year with MBE
The 22 year old track superstar from Atherton is among dozens of people from across the region recognised in the 2025 list.
Just two weeks after being named Sports Personality of the Year, Wigan's Keely Hodgkinson has another accolade under her belt as she's named in the 2025 New Year Honours list.
The 22 year old Team GB athlete from Atherton is getting an MBE after a bumper year of achievements including a gold medal in the 800 metres at the Paris Olympics. She also successfully defended her European title, and set a new British record of one minute 54.61 seconds that made her the sixth fastest woman in history.
Speaking to us earlier this month she told us 2024 has been unforgettable: "I don't know how I'm going to top it to be honest. I'd love to live this year all over again, it's been really good fun.
"The highs and lows and everything in between have been great. They tell you to get to the top, but how do you stay there? So that's the next thing and I'm looking forward to it."
Meanwhile dozens of other people from across the North West are being recognised for their outstanding achievements.
One of the youngest recipients on the list is 19 year old ParalympicsGB swimmer Poppy Maskill from Middlewich, who receives an MBE after winning five medals at the Paris 2024 games.
She was chosen as the closing ceremony flagbearer after making a name for herself as the most successful multi-medallist of the games.
Speaking about her favourite moments of the year, Poppy said: "It would have to be my 100m Butterfly at the Paralympics because it was my first Paralympic race, my first medal, my first world record and one of my best memories from Paris.
"I am very proud of what I've achieved. It's taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am and I'm just trying to remember that a bad training session isn't the end of the world. You can just learn from it and it will go better in the future."
90 year old Terry Crolley from Sefton is among the oldest recipients on this year's list, with the envelope dropping through his letterbox on the eve of his 90th birthday. He's being honoured with an MBE for services to homeless people on Merseyside through his charity work with The Whitechapel Centre: "That was some birthday present! Also, next year the Whitechapel Centre celebrates the 50th year since its foundation so everything has come together in a rather nice, symmetrical way.
"For someone at my age it's very humbling indeed, but it's more for The Whitechapel Centre than it is for me. It's the workers in the Whitechapel Centre who literally go out morning, noon and night to look after the homeless, the marginalised and the disadvantaged. They're the people to whom I want to dedicate this medal."
52 year old Mike Crowther from Blackpool is being awarded an MBE for services to the community, after dedicating decades of his life to charity work in the town; helping people going through challenging circumstances including homelessness and drug addiction.
He told us he couldn't believe it when he opened the letter: "It was a complete surprise, I was shocked and I couldn't quite take it in. I'm immensely proud of the work that I have done, alongside some wonderful people, to make Blackpool a better place.
"One of the things I'm most proud of is creating employment for people who used to be homeless, addicted to drugs or have mental health issues. We're all about giving people a fresh start. If I've achieved anything in Blackpool, it's about never writing anybody off, believing in people no matter how tough the circumstances are.
44 year old Kevin Bradburne from Chester is receiving an MBE for services to young people for his work to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people: "This award is for all the people that support youth work in the area. When I was growing up, I saw how critical youth work was and I honestly believe that if you have that one person in the community that believes in you, and - more importantly - makes you believe in yourself; it does open doors."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities. They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this government does. The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution."
More than 1,200 people from across the UK received honours in the latest list. Actor Stephen Fry, former England manager Gareth Southgate and London mayor Sadiq Khan have been given knighthoods.
Sir Stephen, 67, was recognised for services to mental health awareness, the environment and to charity. Since 2011, he has been president of mental health charity Mind and supported the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, of which the Prince of Wales is patron.
Sir Stephen told the PA news agency that he felt "startled and enchanted" after receiving the letter informing him of the knighthood and that it was "wonderful" to see the charities get recognition.
He added: "When you are recognised it does make you feel a bit 'crikey', but I think the most emotional thing is that when I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child.
"And for my parents, really, what a disaster. I mean every time the phone rang, they thought, 'Oh, God, what has Stephen done now'. It was a sort of joke in the family."
Meanwhile, Sir Sadiq, 54, was honoured for political and public service, having been the capital's mayor since 2016.
He said: "I am truly humbled to have received a knighthood in the King's New Year Honours. I couldn't have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London. It's the honour of my life to serve the city I love and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all of the capital's communities deserve."
Women make up 49% of those honoured, with 12% of recipients from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The list also includes 3% identifying as LGBTQ+, 15% with disabilities or long-term health conditions and 33% from lower socio-economic backgrounds.