Queen's Birthday Honours 2021: All the names from Gwent

Sarah Adams, 54, from Cwmbran, has been awarded an MBE for services to the armed forces and their families.

Private James Prosser with his mum Sarah Adams. Picture: Sarah Adams.

Ms Adams is an ambassador for the ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and has worked to raise money and awareness following the death of her son, Private James Prosser.

Pte Prosser was just 21 when he was killed while driving a Warrior vehicle in the Musa Qaleh district of Helmand Province in September 2009, serving with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh.

"For me the last 12 years have been about raising awareness about our brave soldiers, our soldiers we still have, and the families of those we have lost. It was about keeping James' memory alive," she said.

"That has always been the most important thing to me.

"James was just the most special boy. He was so kind, so funny, he just deserves to be remembered.

"It's a huge loss when someone doesn't come home. We have lived that every day."

The pandemic has affected Ms Adams' work.

"It's been a lot more difficult fundraising, But raising awareness is just as important."

On receiving her honour, Ms Adams said: "It's very special. It's not something you think about. It was very humbling.

"I don't think of it just for me. I wouldn't have got through this last 12 years if it wasn't for my family and friends and ABF The Soldiers' Charity."

Poppy Appeal coordinator and Welsh Army veteran Mike Jones has been awarded an MBE.

Mr Jones has been recognised for services to the Royal British Legion and the community in Gwent, having devoted more than 30 years of his life to volunteering and fundraising.

He served in The Royal Engineers, completing tours in Northern Ireland and Germany. After leaving the army, he began volunteering for the Royal British Legion, helping to fundraise for the Poppy Appeal.

Mr Jones said: “I was completely shocked when I received the call informing me of my MBE.

“Having served in the armed forces myself, I fully believe in supporting this community.

“I have seen first-hand the work that the Royal British Legion does to aid people like myself, and it is outstanding.

“The volunteering and fundraising that I do is my way of giving back to a cause I feel immensely proud and passionate to be a part of.”

As well as being the Poppy Appeal coordinator for Gwent, Mr Jones is also vice chairman of the Pontypool Branch. He also provided welfare support as a case officer for 12 years.

Antony Metcalfe, Royal British Legion area manager for Wales said: “The Royal British Legion welcomes the support of all our volunteers and fundraisers, but over the last 30 years, Mike Jones’ hard work and dedication has been particularly inspiring.

“We provide lifelong support to veterans all year around, and without donations such as those raised by Mike, we would be unable to help as many veterans as we do.

“Mike’s MBE for voluntary services is thoroughly deserved and all of us at the Royal British Legion thank him for his commitment.”

Welsh Government adviser David Goulding, who helped plan the coronavirus response, has been awarded an MBE.

Mr Goulding, of Newport, said he was “delighted” to be named on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and to be recognised for his work as a health emergency planning adviser “This honour, coming at a time of the Covid pandemic, when so many people have contributed so much, gives me a real sense of personal achievement at the contribution that I have made to help during the crisis.”

During the pandemic his role has been to support Wales’ national planning and response structures, to co-ordinate national countermeasures such as personal protective equipment and oversee the logistics supporting the vaccination program.

He has also maintained support for the Wales health emergency planning network, working with health boards and trusts.

Mr Goulding said: “From a professional perspective, it is great that the importance of the emergency planning function is being recognised in this way.

“In each health board and NHS Trust, as well as in local authorities and the emergency services, there are dedicated emergency planning professionals whose job is to risk assess, develop emergency plans and validate those plans.

“Those same staff also have key response roles in times of emergency and, I know, they have been very busy during Covid.

“From a family perspective, receiving this award now, is very timely because there have been times, particularly during COVID, when my wife has said I deserve a medal and now I will be able to say I have one.”

Mr Goulding has been in the role since 2000 and has worked at UK Government level, Welsh Government level and with regional health boards.

Before joining the Welsh Government, Mr Goulding worked as head of emergency planning for Gwent local authorities and was also a professional advisor to the UK Local Government Association and Welsh Local Government Association.

Helen Simmonds, 56, has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to Lakeside House Nursing Home in Cardiff.

Ms Simmonds, originally from Newport, has worked at the home for 21 years and is currently the matron – a position she has held for 20 years.

She worked tirelessly through the pandemic to protect the residents from Covid-19.

“I can’t believe it really, there’s so many people who deserve this award,” said Ms Simmonds.

“It’s great that someone felt that they could nominate me”.

When Covid-19 appeared, Lakeside House locked down weeks before the government directed them to do so.

Ms Simmonds led the efforts to secure PPE and to introduce protective measures in order to reduce the impact of the disease in the home.

Unfortunately, of the 55 residents at the home when the pandemic began, 20 did not survive – showing the scale of the impact of the pandemic on the vulnerable.

Many staff members became infected with the disease and had to self-isolate if they were not hospitalised.

Ms Simmonds had to cover for all of these absences and at one point was working for 18 hours a day, seven days a week for three weeks.

Ms Simmonds said: “I think lots of people during Covid have worked really hard and put a lot of effort in, and the staff here, they've been amazing really.

“We've just been like one big family pulling together.

“I'm sure there's lots of other homes that have been through similar things as well, because it was such an awful time and still not over. Every day, you're dealing with COVID.

“We’re all just working together to try and keep it out”.

Abergavenny resident John Summers, 69, has been named an OBE for services to music and education.

Mr Summers was nominated for his time as chief executive with the prestigious Hallé Orchestra in Manchester.

On his nomination, Mr Summers was “delighted”.

Joining the Hallé in 1999, Mr Summers oversaw a number of new building developments until his retirement last year.

He had previously worked at the Northern Sinfonia in Newcastle in management roles and before that he was a professional cellist in Glasgow.

Mr Summers said: “I played the cello all over the country but then fell into management.

“I actually started just by driving a van actually and then worked my way through the management of the organisation.

“I never intended to go into management, I always intended to be a professional musician, which I loved.

“Although I was good enough to play professionally I realised that I'd probably gone as far as I was going to go as a player, so it was great to get the opportunity to manage two amazing organisations”.

Originally from South London, Mr Summers and his wife have moved to Abergavenny now that he has retired, where he intends to stay.

Paul James Higgins, 64, from Newport, has received an MBE honour for services to the Arts, Film and TV industry in Wales. He is the director of Fields Park as well as countless other businesses within the media industry.

He has over 30 years experience in the TV, Film and Media sector in both Wales and further afield, helping to fund and produce many successful productions as well as founding and advising over 60 media businesses of all forms. 

From his base in South Wales, Higgins has long championed Welsh film and TV projects, taking personal risks on many Welsh productions as well as supporting several charitable and educational initiatives that centre diverse Welsh talent, offer experience and access into the industry for those not often given the opportunity, and amplify underrepresented voices in the sector. 

His contributions have helped to created countless jobs and opportunities as well as assisted in the growth of the industry in Wales.

Speaking to the Argus, Mr Higgins said he was honoured and more than a little surprised by the accolade.

"I am very happy to accept it - not for myself but for all the people in government and in the creative industries sector here in Wales who are punching well above their weight,” he said.

"It is a buoyant sector and one that has the attention of many of the world’s biggest companies.

"There are already over 50,000 people working in creative industries here in Wales and jobs and investment are growing faster here than in other parts of the UK and Europe.

"Job opportunities are growing across the board and they are for everyone - not just the ‘special people’.

"It is a privilege to have been part of this in my own small way.

"Not bad for a boy from a comprehensive school in Newport and the son of an immigrant family from Ireland.

"It’s so nice to give something back to the country that welcomed my family in with open arms all those years ago.”

Peter Gough, of Usk, is an advisor at Natural Resources Wales, has been awarded an OBE for services to sustainable fisheries management.

Mr Gough is a principal advisor for fisheries at NRW and has worked for the company or other similar bodies across England and Wales for 40 years.

Speaking about his OBE, Mr Gough said: "I wasn't expecting it at all, it was a wonderful surprised.

"I am really pleased but it was one of those ‘I can't believe it’ moments."

Mr Gough works for NRW looking at fresh water and migratory fish work management.

This is focused around safeguarding fish populations for the future.

Mr Gough said: "We are doing everything we can to protect the fish."

Salmon is the most familiar fish that Mr Gough focuses on,but says it's sea trout - sewin - that Wales is renowned for.

Also recognised in the list is Tracy Myhill, previous Swansea Bay University Health Board and Welsh Ambulance Services Chief Executive, who has been awarded an OBE for her services to NHS Wales.

She said: “I’ve been so privileged to have had such an extraordinary and rewarding career – from receptionist to Chief Executive – working with so many exceptional and inspirational people.

“I have been, and remain, passionate about improving the health of the population and health services for the people of Wales and whilst now retired from the NHS, I remain dedicated to supporting people and organisations to be the best they can be.

“And to every receptionist out there, I say you too can achieve anything you dare to dream of.”

Earlier in her career, Ms Myhill held a number of senior management positions with the then Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust.

Chief Superintendent Paul Griffiths of Caldicot, who is president of the Police Superintendents’ Association for England and Wales, has been awarded an OBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021.

His biography on the PSA’s website says has “served in both uniform and detective ranks throughout his careers” and has “led one of the largest modern slavery investigations in the United Kingdom”.

Mr Griffiths led Operational Imperial, which started in early 2013, which investigated modern day slavery and trafficking style offences in Gwent. The success of the operation has led to at least two convictions.

Aside from leading operational work, Mr Griffiths has held district executive roles since 2010 and was elected vice president of the PSA in 2016 and president in 2019.

Throughout the years, Mr Griffiths has raised money for police charities by walking 870 miles around the Welsh coastal paths, completing the UK 24 hour Three Peaks Challenge, cycling more than 2,100 miles around every Police Headquarters and walking 86 miles of the Hadrian’s Wall Path in 36 hours.

Roy MacPenfield Grant has been awarded a BEM for services to the community in Newport and the BAME community in Wales.

Mr Grant came to Wales from Jamaica at the age of 19 to take up mechanical engineering and later to run a catering business.

One day, he found the sight in his one good eye had vanished, leaving unable to do much for himself. Treatments were tried, initially without success and later with limited success, he set about building a new life using the little sight that remained, and later wrote a book – When Darkness Turns to Light – about his experiences.

He is now semi-retired, he now lives in Newport, where he is involved in community service.

Others to receive honours include analyst at Newport's Office for National Statistics Myer Glickman, of Pontypool, who has been made an OBE for services to health analysis.

Consultant physician in neurology and honorary senior lecturer at the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Dr John Gareth Llewelyn, of Cardiff, received an MBE for services to medicine in Wales.

Nicola Davies is the headteacher of Nant-y-Parc Primary School in Caerphilly, which has received excellent marks across the board in their last Estyn inspection. Ms Davies has been given an MBE services to education.

Receiving a BEM is Michael Desmond Breakwell, from Pontypool, who has been awarded the honour for services to scouting and to the social, mental and physical development of young people in Gwent.

Susan Ruth Jones, from Cwmbran, has been awarded a BEM for services to the NHS, palliative care and the community in Gwent.

And there’s even been success for the Newsquest, which owns the Argus, with our chief executive officer Henry Faure Walker, who is also the chairman of the News Media Association, receiving an MBE for services to regional news and journalism and to charity.