Community champs recognised for work
FIVE people linked to Huddersfield have been named among the 2019 New Year Honours List.
The town this year sees two people pick up an OBE, one MBE and a British Empire Medal.
A Queen’s Gallantry Medal is also being given to Jason Mallinson, of Oakes, for his part in the Thai cave rescue earlier this year.
Here is a look at two Huddersfield women to be named on this year’s list.
Most people in the Colne Valley village of Golcar will know Sue Starr.
After moving there 50 years ago from Wolverhampton, she’s thrown herself into helping people in the community, and has worked at the Colne Valley Museum since 1972.
The retired teacher is being awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to the village she fell in love with after realising “people talk to you here”.
Sue, 71, was announced as one of the people making the New Year Queen’s Honours list for five decades of involvement in the community, including 14 years of putting on annual event Golcar Lily Day and more than half her life spent educating children at the local museum.
The grandmother of three said she was “very excited” to make this year’s list.
“I moved here when I was 19 when I came to train as a teacher above what used to be the Co-op building in town. Ever since, I’ve been helping out.
“I’ve always had a thing for Yorkshire and straight away I thought Golcar was a great village and knew I wanted to live there. I love it because people talk to you here, you can go into the village and strike up a conversation with anyone.”
Sue’s list of things she has done for the village also includes setting up an amateur dramatics group at St John’s Church, the Drop By Community Shop and she is a member of the Tenants and Residents Association.
Retired magistrate Margaret Atkinson left Lloyds TSB in 2000, deciding it was time to do something more people-focused.
The Salendine Nook resident served on the bench at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court in Huddersfield for 16 years before retiring for good last year, and has now received an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list for her involvement both in the justice system, and for her work with the United Reformed Church.
Margaret, 71, said: “When I retired in 2000 I decided I needed to give something back.”
As well as dealing with criminal cases, Margaret also served on the Magistrates’ Advisory Committee, at the family court and on the drugs panel.
“The best thing about it was the colleagueship”, she added. “There is a good team at Kir- klees and I hope they manage to keep it open for a long time yet.
“And of course, it was always rewarding when you got to see children paired up with new parents in the family courts.”
Margaret is also the former president and current chairman of Huddersfield Choral Society, and plays piano at the chaplaincy services at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
Both women join several other people in Huddersfield on this year’s list.
Also included in the list are Carol Ann Brooks, from Holmfirth, listed for an OBE for her services to early years education, and the University of Huddersfield’s Christopher John Brown, who gets an OBE for services to higher education.
Principal of William Henry Smith School Brendan Heneghan is also listed for the same accolade for services to special educational needs, while Steven Leigh from the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, based in Huddersfield, is listed for an MBE for services to local business.