SALUTE TO THE COVID HEROES
Queen honours humbling courage of medics and unsung volunteers
DOCTORS, nurses and unsung heroes were honoured yesterday for their part in the fight against Covid.
Frontline workers and volunteers won recognition alongside the famous and powerful in a salute to those who tackled the pandemic.
The Queen’s birthday honours were postponed from June so the debt of gratitude could be acknowledged. It means NHS carers, scientists, supermarket delivery drivers and charity helpers take pride of place.
Boris Johnson said the awards showed Britain was ‘ caring, compassionate and resolute’.
Honours were also granted to
scientists who advised the Government on responding to coronavirus despite the ongoing controversy over lockdown decisions and their economic impact.
More than 400 carers and volunteers were on a list that included:
■ Knighthoods for actor David Suchet and singer Tommy Steele, soap creator Phil Redmond and athletics ace Brendan Foster;
■ Damehoods for TV stars Mary Berry and Maureen lipman, and novelist Susan Hill;
■ Covid honours for footballer and school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford, and lockdown fitness stars Joe Wicks and Mr Motivator;
■ A special award for David Attenborough, who becomes a Knight Grand Cross;
■ An Order of the Companions of Honour for fashion designer Sir Paul Smith;
■ CBEs for billionaire brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa, a week after they bought supermarket chain Asda for £6.8billion;
■ A knighthood for Tory donor Tony Gallagher, who is a friend of David Cameron.
The decision to reflect the coronavirus fight in the birthday honours led to an unprecedented 4,000 public nominations.
Officials said they had been humbled by examples of courage, selflessness and determination shown by key workers and volunteers, including many who risked their lives.
The Prime Minister said: ‘This year’s honours recipients are a testament to the sort of country we are – caring, compassionate and resolute in the face of a global pandemic.
‘The hard work and dedication of these local, often unsung, heroes has helped carry us through. I congratulate them all.’
Charity fundraisers, hospital porters and supermarket delivery drivers and home school entrepreneurs were among those handed honours.
They included Dabirul Islam Choudhury, who raised more than £400,000 by walking 970 laps of his garden while fasting for Ramadan. His family said the 100-year-old wept with joy when he learned he was to be awarded an OBE.
NHS nurse Felicia Kwaku was given an OBE for her work at King’s College Hospital in south london. She said: ‘It’s not just about me, it’s about my fallen colleagues.’
There were also OBEs for the men who developed the NHS volunteering app, Professor Mark Wilson and Ali Ghorbangholi.
More than 750,000 people signed up in the first 48 hours of its launch in April.
Mr Ghorbangholi, 29 and from Ealing in west london, said: ‘The response to the app was really heart-warming, it reached a lot of people which shows the levels people are willing to go to help others, it’s a real testament to the people of England.’
In total, 1,495 honours were granted, including 414 for services during the pandemic. Fourteen per cent went to healthcare and social care workers.
This year’s list is also the most diverse in the history of the honours, with black and minority ethnic groups accounting for 13 per cent of all recipients. This followed calls for greater recognition, prompted by the Black lives Matter protests.