New Years Honours: Fundraisers, veterans and aid workers recognised

Recognising society's unsung heroes

(PA)

Jonjo Heuerman, 13, is the youngest person on this year’s list. He receives the British Empire Medal (BEM) after raising £235,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund at Cancer Research UK.

The schoolboy, from Dartford, Kent, began a series of football-based fundraising challenges five years ago after his grandmother died from bowel cancer.

“I was really surprised and very proud to hear I was on the New Year Honours list,” he said. “I didn’t even know what a British Empire Medal was. I never realised my fundraising would go this far.”

The oldest person on the list is Dorothy Start, 99, who receives the BEM for her community work in Friern Barnet, north London.

Also receiving a BEM is Richard Tyler, who was in charge of the Red Cross team during the Shoreham Airshow disaster in August, in which 11 people died.

“I don’t do what I do for awards and I’ve never thought about having anything like this, but it’s great to be recognised,” he said.

Simon Weston, the Falklands veteran and charity campaigner, has his OBE upgraded to a CBE; and Normandy veteran George Batts, 90, is appointed MBE.