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New Year Honours 2024: Ex-council leader and lecturer awarded

Stoke-on-Trent Conservatives / Keele University Abi Brown and Prof Miriam BernardStoke-on-Trent Conservatives / Keele University
Abi Brown was leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Prof Miriam Bernard was a lecturer at Keele University

A council leader and a university professor from Staffordshire are among those recognised in this year's New Year Honours list.

Abi Brown, former leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, has been appointed OBE for services to local government.

Prof Miriam Bernard, an ex-Keele University lecturer, was appointed MBE for services to older people and research into ageing.

They join others from a variety of sectors being recognised this year.

Mrs Brown was leader of Stoke council from 2019 until May this year, and was deputy leader from 2015 to 2019.

She currently represents the Meir Park ward at the council, and said it was a "massive surprise" to have been given the honour.

"For me, it's nice that local government is being recognised as it's been such an important part of my life, and continues to be," she said.

"Although it's recognition for me, it is actually an opportunity to talk about the great things local government does."

'Amazed and delighted'

Prof Bernard has spent more than four decades working to improve the lives of older people through research, education and policy.

She is an author and former lecturer at Keele University, and currently volunteers at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

She was recipient of the British Society of Gerontology's Outstanding Achievement Award in 2022.

Prof Bernard first attended Keele as an undergraduate student, and later returned to study for her PhD in social/human geography.

She said: "I am amazed and delighted to be awarded an MBE. Ever since I began my career in the voluntary sector, I have always believed that the true value of research on ageing lies in the positive impact it can have on older people, on practitioners, and on our students."

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Honours recipients in Staffordshire this year include:

Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

  • Dr Chandra Kanneganti, from Stoke-on-Trent, for services to general practice

Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

  • Catherine Parry, from Stoke-on-Trent, for services to political and public service
  • Kenneth Newton, from Stafford, for services to public service
  • Councillor Abi Brown, from Stoke-on-Trent, for services to local government
  • Prof David Foskett, from Burton-on-Trent, for services to the hospitality industry and inclusivity

Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

  • Jacqueline Gange, from Cannock, for services to the community in Cannock
  • Rowan Crozier, from Lichfield, for services to manufacturing and enterprise
  • Jill Alcock (Clewes), from the Staffordshire Moorlands, for services to charity and the arts
  • Prof Miriam Bernard, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, for services to research on ageing and to older people
  • Catherine Baxter, for services to higher education

Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM)

  • Martin Wild, from Barton under Needwood, for services to the community in Tamworth
  • Herbert Proctor, from Stoke-on-Trent, for services to the community in Audley
  • Stephen Lees, for services to the community in Himley, Swindon and south Staffordshire
  • Elaine Hutchings, from Lichfield, for services to the community in Lichfield during the Covid-19 pandemic
  • Peter Clemson, from Burton-upon-Trent, for services to performing arts and the community in Burton
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