West Berkshire and North Hampshire residents recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours

A NURSE, teacher, charity worker and technical advisor have all been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

David Bruce, chairman of The West Berkshire Brewery, has been appointed the OBE for his charitable work.

In 1988, following the sale of Bruce’s Brewery and its Firkin pubs, Mr Bruce and his wife, Louise, created The Bruce Charitable Trust - www.brucetrust.org - to provide holidays for disabled people on the Kennet & Avon Canal.

Having realised that access to canal narrow boats was generally impossible for disabled people, £80,000 of the sale proceeds was donated to develop a specially-designed, purpose-built, wide-beam canal boat to enable disabled, disadvantaged or elderly people to enjoy canal-cruising holidays.

The Trust’s first boat, named The Rebecca after David and Louise’s first daughter, was launched in January 1989 and since then more than half a million pounds has been raised to fund three more boats – The Hannah, named after their second daughter, as well as The Diana and The Rachel.

During that time, holidays and day trips have been provided for more than 25,000 people with special needs by the charity, thanks to the 100 voluntary helpers.

Tadley nurse, Arlene Wellman, has been appointed the MBE for services to nursing during Covid-19.

The 54-year-old has been Chief Nurse at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust since 2018 and has restructured the nursing and AHP workforce and made changes to improve care quality and safety.

The trust has now achieved a ‘good’ rating from the CQC.

Moving to work in England from Trinidad and Tobago over 20 years ago she has been part of the Command and Control team and has ensured staff working to support COVID-19 had their wellbeing looked after, facilitating a celebration of nursing and midwifery that provided a boost for staff morale.

She was proactive in providing a safety net for staff and co-facilitated a listening event for BAME staff to talk about their specific concerns when data on Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) emerged.

During the pandemic, she was the first one to advocate free meals to those staff who work in Covid wards and she supported Covid risk assessment for all staff.

Kathryn Mary Winrow from Wash Common was also appointed the MBE for services to education.

Mrs Winrow is the chairwoman of the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust, a National Leader in Education and was headteacher at Ranelagh School in Bracknell.

Michael Stuart Noad, a principal technical adviser at the Atomic Weapons Establishment from Aldermaston, has also been appointed the MBE for services to Defence.

For more see Thursday's Newbury Weekly News.