Queen’s Birthday Honours: Woman who fostered 27 children made OBE

A Londoner who has fostered 27 children has been made an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Afia Choudhury, from Tower Hamlets, has four children of her own who have helped her care for the foster children in their east London home.

Ms Choudhury said she was "in shock" when she received a letter from the Cabinet Office about the award.

Honours will be bestowed on Londoners for a range of good deeds, coinciding with the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday.

Ms Choudhury, who has been honoured for services to children, said: "After opening the letter, I needed to sit down as I was in shock, and needed to gather myself before believing that it was true.

"I have finally come to terms with the news and I am absolutely honoured to be nominated.

"This means a lot to me to be recognised for the work that I do, the work that I absolutely love."

She added she hoped accepting the award would be a recognition of the work thousands of foster carers do across the country to give children "a safe, secure and loving home".

Other Londoners to be honoured include Jane Byam Shaw, who is also made an OBE for services to the community, for her work as co-founder of the Felix Project, set up in honour of her late son. The charity, based in Ealing, west London, rescues surplus food from suppliers and delivers it to charities, primary schools and holiday programmes across the capital.

Ms Shaw said the project had "harnessed the energy and generosity of thousands of people who share our vision of a city where good food is never wasted, and nobody goes hungry".

Another Londoner, Holocaust Memorial Day Trust volunteer Zdenka Husserl, is a survivor of Theresienstadt concentration camp and came to Surrey as a refugee.

She has been made an OBE for her services to Holocaust Education, which a Trust spokeswoman said was "wonderful".

The spokeswoman added, "despite living with the weight of trauma and grief", Ms Husserl's "energy and commitment have had a huge impact, with thousands of people hearing and learning from her testimony".

The Natural History Museum's principal curator of crustacea, Miranda Constance Lowe, said she was "delighted and humbled" to be made a CBE for services to science communication and diversity in natural history.

Museum director Doug Gurr said: "Alongside her vital scientific work and research on ocean health, Miranda has worked tirelessly as an ambassador to ensure the industry is engaging and reaching underrepresented audiences. A huge congratulations to Miranda."

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