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New Year Honours 2023: Military artist says BEM is dream come true

Michelle Morris Photography Clare DoneganMichelle Morris Photography
Clare Donegan said she is unaware of another decorated female military artist

A female military artist from Herefordshire who has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to art says it is a dream come true.

Leominster's Clare Donegan handwrites the names of soldiers on rolls of honours for regiments around the world.

Mrs Donegan said her military art career had started in 2002 when her friend Lt Col David Leigh had asked her to create one for a leaving present.

"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for him."

"If you work hard enough, things like this happen," Mrs Donegan said.

After Lt Col Leigh asked her to created a roll of honour for the Royal Mercian Lancastrian Yeomanry, it was not until 12 years later, when another regiment saw the artwork sitting in Dawley Barracks, that Mrs Donegan started creating them again.

The second Mercian Regiment King CharlesThe second Mercian Regiment
The second Mercian Regiment roll of honour was presented to the then Prince Charles a few months before he became King

Mrs Donegan, who qualified from Falmouth College of Art in 1995, took voluntarily redundancy from her job at Shropshire Council and pursued her passion.

"I can handwrite around 300-750 names of soldiers," she said.

While Mrs Donegan still paints animal portraits, she said she loved the military side of her work as it was a "snapshot in time" for the soldiers.

Mrs Donegan, who lives with her husband Col Simon Donegan (ACF) and daughters Katie and Amelia, said her family were "absolutely delighted".

The sole trader often uses platforms such as Linkedin to get her work out there. Using this, she said, had attracted regiments from Australia and Canada.

However, it is the New Year Honour that is "the biggest opportunity to get myself out there", she said.

Other honours recipients from Herefordshire and Worcestershire include:

  • John Crabtree, from Crowle, the chair of the organising committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, is knighted for services to sport and to the community in the West Midlands
  • Thomas Nellist, from Hereford, chair of Hereford Agricultural Associations and Clubs, is appointed an MBE for his work for voluntary and charitable services
  • Peter Hines, from Worcester, a head teacher at Perryfields Primary Pupil Referral Unit in the city, is appointed OBE for services to education
  • Mark Barnes Glossop, who runs a community shop in Worcester, is awarded a BEM for services to the community in Worcester
  • Gavin Hugh James, a philanthropist from Ledbury, is awarded a BEM for services to the community there, particularly during Covid-19
  • James Michael McBride, from Pershore, an area council member of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, is awarded a BEM for services to businesses
  • Lt Col (Rtd) Mark Smith, from Hereford, is awarded a BEM for services to the community in the city during Covid-19
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