British Empire Medal

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Gary has served the wide industry through Valpa and IAPA and was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to leisure, parks and tourism.

This year, he also received Valpa's Lifetime Membership Award.

We talk about what's changed across the four decades, what hasn't and what it takes for a small independent seaside park to still be standing today.

Indeed.

But we've got a shop member, a volunteer, who's got the British Empire Medal for his services to charity and the RNLI, and I think that says a lot more about being a patriot to your country and getting some kind of award like that than, as you say... hanging flags or walking around in a balaclava um doesn't it just some of the staff some of the staff in my shop have had um people walking not to buy anything just to give them a little light bit of abuse a little bit and these are people having a go at pensioners or people volunteering you know they're spending their own time they're taking their own time to walk into that shop have a go at a lovely old lady who's selling shortbread and t-shirts and jigsaws does

she understand what's happening i'm not sure i want her to but it might be better than being completely baffled by this behavior uh

do you know what i pop in i pop into the shop all the time just to just to speak to the um people in there just to say hello and see how they're getting on and some of them are some of them are quite forthright and tell the people where to go but they they they They don't understand.

And it's fantastic to connect with you and have you come through on Facebook, in fact, responding to my call for people who've received honours in the past.

And what really struck me was that you've both received the BEM, the British Empire Medal.

And it was both for yourselves, for services, whilst you worked with Thames Valley Police.

I suppose kind of it brings up the natural question.

So Jo would have done training sessions for me and that's how we came to know each other.

And then we stayed in contact via Facebook.

And then the announcement came this year that Jo had been awarded a British Empire Medal.

And I was so excited because mine was 2025.

He was speaking at a complimentary dinner at the Faircroft Hotel given by Aston Villa Football Club directors to Ernest Callaghan, their popular centre-half.

Callaghan, now a regular member of the Birmingham Police Force, was awarded the British Empire Medal for his gallantry in assisting to rescue people trapped in a shelter during an air raid last July.

Councillor Norman Sill, chairman of Aston Villa, presided and among those present were the Lord Mayor, Sir Patrick Hannan, Sir Percival Bower, Sir Frank Wiltshire, the town clerk... and the Chief Constable, Mr Johnson.

Councillor Normansell, on behalf of the Villa board, presented Callaghan with an illuminated testimonial and Lord Dudley, after reciting the official details of Callaghan's bravery, expressed the view that every member of the force was worthy of recognition.

He had Parkinson's, but he was knighted for civil service.

Uh, first of all, I believe it was an MBE, but certainly it was a British Empire Medal of some sort that was then, um, augmented to become Sir Albert James Taylor Day, and my granny was Lady Dorcas Day.

I've got, um, a very unusual surname, not my Gray, because that's clearly not very unusual at all, but my great-grandmother, her surname was Sillifant.

Yes.

is

the honour, the British Empire Medal.

So I just especially for you two, because not many people have seen that, believe it or not.

That's

way more enveloping isn't it and yes really at the end of the day yeah yeah

absolutely that's right special

Well, we've had two of you lovely people who've had a Medal of Honour from the Queen, so we're feeling very chuffed to be in such royal company.

I

Yeah, I think it sounds like you're in the right subspecialty for future progress.

So just moving on, a fact that many of our listeners are already aware of through Biscos comms and kind of wider media is that you were one of six clinicians awarded the prestigious British Empire Medal in the King's Birthday Honours List this year.

This was for your services to children and young people.

Firstly, huge congratulations.

What an achievement.

I've never met anyone with a British Empire medal.

MBEs, dime a dozen.

But BEMs, never met one.

Now, I just wanted to cuddle my grandmother, you know? But unfortunately I was unable to do so.

Gabrielle was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to Holocaust education for recounting her remarkable life story in the hope that it might bring about what she calls kindness, tolerance, and acceptance of diversity in others.

Now she's made that journey back to Vienna along with her children and grandchildren, and she told the BBC's Anna Foster about it.

When I got to the station, the station has altered so much.