Queen's Birthday Honours: Round-up of those recognised in Chester, Ellesmere Port and surrounding area

The chief executive of Storyhouse, Andrew Bentley, and its former chair, Geoff Clifton, are among a number of recipients from the area.

Francis Ball, the founder of Bridge Community Farms in Ellesmere Port, has also been recognised along with a boxing stalwart, a dedicated supermarket employee, and a former councillor.

The Queen's Birthday Honours list was due to be published in June but was postponed in order to consider nominations for people playing crucial roles during the Covid-19 effort.

Those who have been recognised in the area include:

• MBE: Francis Ball (Chester). For services to the community in Ellesmere Port during Covid-19.
• BEM: Karen Ann Clarke (Ellesmere Port). For services to the Covid-19 response.
• BEM: Charlie Joseph Reader (Frodsham), musician and fundraiser. For charitable fundraising for the NHS during Covid-19.
• OBE: Steven Baker. (Frodsham), executive headteacher, Aspire Schools Federation. For services to Education.
• OBE: Pamela Theresa Hall (Chester), President, National Conservative Convention. For public and political service.
• MBE: Geoffrey Andrew Clifton (Chester). For services to the community in Chester.
• BEM: Andrew Bentley (Tarporley). For services to libraries and the arts.
• BEM: David Cummings (Rowton). For services to the community in Chester.
• BEM: Alexander Michael McGowan (Whitby). For services to amateur boxing and the community in Ellesmere Port.
• BEM: Roger Stuart Fenton. specialist team manager at Cheshire West and Chester Council. For services to people with learning disabilities in Cheshire.

Here is how some of the recipients reacted to being recognised in the honours list:

Andrew Bentley (pictured left). chief executive at Storyhouse, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to libraries and the arts, while former chair Geoffrey Clifton has received an MBE for services to the community in Chester.

The pair have both been recognised for their work with the much-loved Chester charity and venue.

Andrew, from Tarporley, is the founding chief executive and still leads the organisation, while Geoff, of Littleton, was the charity's chair until 2015.

"Obviously this is just lovely news and I am genuinely taken aback", said Andrew. "This is really a well-deserved recognition for all the hard work our talented team have put in over the years.

"I’m particularly pleased that Geoff has been recognised for the countless hours of voluntary service and, on a personal note, he has been a wonderful mentor to me during the development of our charity."

Geoff, who is recognised for his long-standing work with the Cathedral Fabric Advisory Commission, said: "I am proud and delighted to accept this honour.

"It’s been a great privilege to work with Andrew, the teams in Storyhouse and the local authority to produce this fantastic creative resource for the city.

"So many people have contributed to its development, design and delivery; it's been a privilege to help lead those teams and an enormous delight to have seen the city take it to their hearts and make Storyhouse their own."

Mr Francis Ball, founder of Bridge Community Farms, has been awarded an MBE for services to the community in Ellesmere Port during Covid-19.

The driving force behind Bridge Community Farms up-scaled its organic vegetable box scheme to deliver more than 575 boxes every week to those in need during lockdown.

Francis, 72, from Chester, also helped deliver 10,000 meals to 400 struggling families – half of which were ‘meal kits’ teaching families how to cook from scratch – during the month of August.

Bridge Community Farms and Wellness Gardens in Mill Lane, off Overpool Road, Ellesmere Port, supports those coping with mental health and learning difficulties in the therapeutic environment of its 10-acre farm.

The charity also creates jobs for the long-term unemployed growing fresh vegetables, salads, herbs and fruit in their fields and poly tunnels.

Francis said: "I am greatly humbled to receive this honour knowing how many colleagues, both volunteers and paid staff, have worked so hard through the pandemic to bring fresh food and some comfort and support to so many people across the Wirral, Chester and West Cheshire.

"We love what we do and we love the responses from our thousands of 'Veg Box' customers, Wellness clients, volunteers and supporters.

"And we are deeply grateful to our major funders, The Steve Morgan Foundation, Cheshire Community Foundation, Stanlaw Abbey Development Trust, Cheshire Freemasons, The Earl of Chester Fund, The Ursula Keyes Trust and many others for making our work possible."

Bridge Wellness Gardens started with Francis's vision to use horticulture to provide jobs in a deprived area for people who are long-term unemployed, and has become a community resource which could provide therapy and support for young people with mental health and learning difficulties.

The site was developed to provide study facilities, including craft areas, and he identified the opportunity to use the farm’s organically grown produce to generate increased funds for the charity’s work.

In response to the Covid-19 crisis, he expanded the veg box scheme to deliver to as many vulnerable people as he could.

This involved up-scaling, almost overnight, from an average 120 boxes delivered once a week to over 575 over two delivery days each week.

He went from eight volunteer drivers to 20 drivers and had to contend with sourcing high volumes of quality, organic produce against a backdrop of shortages and managing the large volume of new customers.

Francis established the ‘Bridge Buddy Club’, where volunteers would call vulnerable people in their local area to make sure they have access to what they need and to provide a listening ear in order to mitigate loneliness.

He also set up the ‘Welly to Belly’ holiday activity club, which provided summer activities for 130 children and gave them gardening skills and tools that they can then use in later life.

Karen Clarke, e-commerce customer trading manager at Asda Ellesmere Port, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.

The supermarket worker has been hailed "a true Asda hero" for the part she has played in supporting both colleagues and customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Karen took swift action to secure another home shopping van for the town centre store which meant 420 extra households a week were able to receive groceries at a time when they really needed them.

Every week she delivered to the Thomas family who needed to shield during the pandemic as their two young boys are autistic.

When Karen noticed that the family hadn't ordered one week, she took it upon herself to call and check that they were OK and see if they needed any shopping.

Thankfully, they were fine and knowing how excited the boys got when they saw the delivery van, Karen bought both of them an Asda van toy and made a goody bag which she dropped off as a special delivery despite the fact they hadn’t ordered any shopping that week.

To sum up Karen's dedication and commitment to her role she made the difficult and brave decision to have her autistic son James, who has medical conditions to contend with, shield with his dad for 11 weeks rather than take time off.

She wanted to continue supporting her colleagues – two of which were new to the store so Karen knew that they would be grateful of her guidance.

Roger Burnley, Asda CEO and president, said: "I cannot express how proud we all are to have Karen recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

"A key worker along with thousands of others, Karen has done an amazing job looking after our customers in phenomenally challenging circumstances.

"I want to extend my thanks and gratitude to her for the way in which she has risen to the challenges of the pandemic and played a vital role in feeding the nation."

Cordelia Kingsley, general store manager at Asda Ellesmere Port, added: "We’re all very proud of Karen. She gives 200% in everything she does and always looks out for the customer.

"She works so hard – in fact she's the hardest working person I've ever known. When she found out about this award she was quite overwhelmed – I think she thought the email was junk at first! Well done Karen."