Community champions and notable figures have been celebrated for their outstanding contributions in The King’s New Year Honours.
A total of 120 people from the East of England were recognised — representing 10 per cent of the total number of recipients. Among those honoured with links to Suffolk were:
Geoff Barton
Geoff Barton in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Mariam Ghaemi
Former Bury St Edmunds headteacher Geoff Barton has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to education.
Geoff was head of King Edward VI School, in Bury, for 15 years and, in April, stepped down as general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) trade union.
Over his seven-year tenure, Geoff, of Pakenham, championed the voice of school and college leaders over issues including funding, pay, recruitment and retention, the curriculum, Ofsted and led the organisation through the coronavirus pandemic.
When he received a letter notifying him of his honour, his wife Philippa initially thought he had received a parking fine until she opened it.
Geoff, 62, said: “I feel genuinely very proud. I never saw myself going into education. I wanted to go into the world of radio. An extraordinary English teacher Roy Samson (in Stafford) sent me on a direction which has led me being recognised for services to education.
“There’s been a whole range of people through the years who’ve had an extraordinary effect on me – particularly from the King Edward’s years.”
Geoff enjoyed a 32-year career in teaching, first in Leeds and York before moving to Suffolk as deputy head of the then Thurston Upper School for five years before joining King Edward VI.
While general secretary of ASCL, there were seven Secretaries of State for Education.
He said the honour matters because when took the ASCL role, ‘you want to show what 21st Century trade unions look like, how they give a sense of solidarity, communicate with you and give a sense you’re being supported’
“This feels like it’s a collaboration of what trade unions at their best can achieve for people,” said Geoff.
He said he took particular pride in the honour as he felt it recognised the work of leaders through challenging times including the pandemic and issues with the faulty concrete RAAC (reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete) in schools.
Geoff sits on the board of the Royal Shakespeare Company and is chair of the independent Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, which makes recommendations for the implementation of a national entitlement to oracy education for all children.
He said he will celebrate the honour with a glass of champagne with friends.
Ronald Hynd
Ronald Hynd with his late wife Annette Page during the Theatre Royal Restoration Appeal in 2006. Picture: Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
A renowned choreographer who has lived near Bury St Edmunds for more than four decades has been made an OBE.
Ronald Hynd, dancer and international choreographer, 93, received the honour for services to dance.
He studied with Rambert and danced with Ballet Rambert (1948-52) before moving to Sadler’s Wells (later Royal Ballet) from 1952-70.
In the late 1940s he began to dance with the late Annette Page, who he later married.
He choreographed his first work in 1968 and from 1970-73 and 1984-86 was ballet director for the Bavarian State Opera Ballet, in Munich.
During his career Ronald choreographed ballets including The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, The Merry Widow and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame for companies including the London Festival Ballet, English National Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Houston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Ballet West.
Ronald and Annette were involved in the Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal restoration appeal from 2005-2007, helping to fund-raise as well as donating.
A Theatre Royal spokesperson said the couple were ‘instrumental and dedicated’ to the appeal and had supported the theatre throughout the process.
Ann Osborn
Ann Osborn, chief executive of The Rural Coffee Caravan. Picture: UoS
A charity leader, whose work helps to connect some of the most isolated communities, has also been recognised.
Ann Osborn, chief executive of The Rural Coffee Caravan (RCC), has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to older people and combating loneliness in the communities of Suffolk and Norfolk.
The 71-year-old, of Weybread, has committed the last 22 years of her life to the initiative which now has a fleet of vehicles and made more than 550 visits to rural villages in 2024, providing a place for people to meet over coffee and cake.
“When I first heard the news about the BEM I wondered who had nominated me,” she said.
“Truth be told, I felt a bit embarrassed because I have already had such a lot of public attention after the huge privilege of being awarded an honorary degree last year from the University of Suffolk.
“Now I have had chance to collect my thoughts, I do feel very proud to accept it and want to give credit to my brilliant team of staff and volunteers, without whom none of the achievements of The Rural Coffee Caravan over two decades would have been possible.”
Ann was employed by the RCC, whose headquarters are in Walsham-le-Willows, soon after it was established in 2003 by the Rev Canon Sally Fogden and has grown the charity’s team into nine paid staff as well as having hundreds of volunteers across the county.
During the pandemic, the charity head continued to connect communities online and via “village phone tree” services and supervised the delivery of care packages to doorsteps in many of the villages where regular visits were postponed.
Ann is also the founder of the fundraising group 500SuffolkReasons, set up to address the cost of living challenges.
The group collects £1 a week from those who sign up to be members, which creates a ‘£500 pot of kindness’ that they nominate to individuals or families that are experiencing difficulties.
Jill Terrell
Jill Terrell at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library. Picture: Submitted
Jill Terrell, of Stowmarket, said she is ‘over the moon’ to be honoured as a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) for her services to libraries.
She has worked for libraries across the East of England and was appointed Head of Service in Norfolk in 2021 where she took the library service in fresh, new directions.
Jill, 59, said: “I was very surprised and I am completely over the moon.
“To be honoured for a wonderful long career in a job I have loved is just amazing.
“I was very excited to receive the letter and I think ‘honoured’ really is the word to sum up how I’m feeling — it is an absolute privilege to be recognised for the work I have done.”
During her career, Jill helped in establishing SPINE, a regional library management system consortium and she wrote a successful bid to Arts Council England to secure £700,000 funding over four years to designate Cambridgeshire as one of the first library National Portfolio Organisations.
Jill was instrumental in Libraries Connected East, an organisation which connects 11 authorities in the East of England, and her contributions were recognised in 2023 with the President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Libraries Connected Awards.
“I have always been really interested in working in partnership with other libraries,” Jill said. “I just think you can do more when you work together.
“We all know that public services are up against it at the moment, but if we all take our little bit and find ways to collaborate, we can still do quite a lot.”
Daniel Schumann
Daniel Schumann at Haverhill Arts Centre. Picture: Mark Westley
The founder of a community theatre group has been made an MBE.
Forty four-year-old Daniel Schumann, who founded Soham’s Viva Arts and Community group when he was just 16 and has run it ever since, said he was both surprised and honoured to receive the award which was made in recognition of his services to community theatre in Cambridgeshire.
“It’s a huge thrill and the cherry on the cake,” said Daniel, who has raised over £4 million for Viva including the funding to build its own and East Cambridgeshire’s only purpose-built theatre.
When he started Viva, Daniel was still a pupil at Soham Village College and it was there the group had its beginnings.
“Before we had the theatre we would hold our weekly group sessions at the college or the town’s pavilion, in fact anywhere we could find,” he said.
Since then Viva has grown and seen thousands of people from all over Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, take part in its shows which have been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in New York and in London.
Daniel who has forged a successful career as a theatre producer.
“Viva is going from strength to strength and getting busier and busier. When there is a need if you get it right it works,” he said.
In 2012 Viva was recognised with a Queen’s Award and in 2023 it welcomed the Duke of Edinburgh to officially open its new theatre which had originally been Soham’s Spencer Mill which was derelict when it was bought by the theatre group in 2018.
Daniel’s efforts saw the group raise more than £3 million to renovate, refurbish and bring the building back into community use.
“What Viva is about is bringing communities together,” said Daniel, “and showing what is possible when that happens. That’s the power of it.”
William Ellard
William Ellard, 18, of Beccles, has been made an MBE for his contributions to swimming following his success at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
He won three medals, including two golds in the 200m freestyle and mixed 4 x 100m freestyle relay — breaking the 200m freestyle world record.
At the GB Swimming Championships, William also matched the Men’s S14 200m freestyle world record and went on to secure golds in the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly at the European Championships.
Barbara Boyd
Barbara Boyd, 91, of Hadleigh, has been honoured with an MBE in recognition of her dedication to fund-raising and service to her community.
Barbara took over Hadleigh Thrift Shop in 1999 and has helped to raise more than £2 million for 50 different charities across the UK and Albania.
She also set up a foundation to ensure the shop will continue to raise money for charity going into the future.
Her efforts have earned her local recognition as she was honoured with the Town Mayor’s Award for her contribution to community projects.
Others recognised were:
Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
James Darkins, of Southwold. Lately independent non-executive board member of The Crown Estate. For services to the public sector.
Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM)
Christine Boatwright, of Bures. Founder and clinical director of Kernos Centre. For services to mental health in Suffolk.
Muriel Bridges, 88, of Woodbridge. For services to St Elizabeth Hospice in Framlingham.
Lilian Winter, 85, of Woodbridge. For services to St Elizabeth Hospice in Framlingham.
John Dunnett, of Woodbridge. For services to the community in Grundisburgh.
Kathleen Hamilton, 70, of Peasenhall. Lately theatre manager and administrator. For services to theatre.
Do you know someone who should be recognised for a National Honour but don’t know where to start?
The Suffolk Lieutenancy Office can help provide advice and support to anyone wishing to nominate a Suffolk resident for a National Honour, including help with writing the Nomination.
The process is simpler than you might think. Please email Lieutenancyoffice@suffolk.gov.uk for more information or visit www.suffolk-lieutenancy.org.uk/honours. You can also find help and detailed guidance at www.gov.uk/honours.
Reporting by Sam Harrison, Paul Derrick, Camille Berriman, Kevin Hurst and Alison Hayes.