Ten Worcestershire residents recognised in The King’s Birthday Honours 2025

Ten outstanding individuals from the county have been acknowledged for their contributions across various sectors, celebrating their dedication and impact.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Mrs Beatrice Grant, sent her congratulations to all being recognised.

She said, “It is wonderful to see ten members of our community honoured for their outstanding contributions to public life and their unwavering dedication to helping others. I extend my heartfelt congratulations and deepest gratitude to each of them for their invaluable service to society and to our county.”

One recipient, Mr Shane Connolly, from the Malvern Hills district, is a sustainable floral designer and florist who arranged the British grown flowers at Their Majesties coronation, commented:

“I am deeply honoured to be awarded an MBE in The King’s Birthday Honours. Sustainable Floristry is something I am passionate about and this award brings it into even greater focus.
Both The King and The Queen have been supporters of British Grown, seasonal flowers for many years and that encourages us all enormously.”

Karen Blanchfield, from Stourport, has been recognised her work founding the Little Litter Warriors, a project that provides schools with litter picking workshops, assemblies and environment classroom activities for different key stages to support children to learn about litter and the environmental damage litter has when left in our community spaces.

She said: “I’m truly honoured and humbled to be receiving this award, and to receive this recognition for something I care so much about is amazing. I’m really passionate about helping our Worcestershire communities in particular, the younger generation to learn about litter and about keeping the world we live in clean and tidy, both now and in the future. Litter picking is a simple thing that anyone and everyone can do to help protect our environment, educating this from a young age is really important and can have such a long-lasting impact which will see the next generation of adult's care for the environment."

Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Mrs Melanie Clarke OBE
For services to the Road Network

Mrs Hannah Sidaway OBE
For services to Law and Order

Members of the Order of the British Empire

Mr Shane Connolly MBE
For services to Sustainable Floristry

Mr Steven Davies MBE
For services to Sport

Mr Geoffrey Sansome MBE
For services to Farming and the Voluntary Sector

Mrs Merleen Watson MBE
For services to the Deaf and Hearing Impaired Community in Worcestershire

Medallist of the Order of the British Empire

Mrs Karen Blanchfield BEM
For services to Environmental Education

Mr Richard Hayhow BEM
For services to young people with Learning Disabilities and Artists in Birmingham and Coventry

Mrs Patricia Neal BEM
For services to Grassroots Netball

Miss Jane Poynder BEM
For services to Sport

For further information about the National Honours system and how to nominate someone, please visit the Nominate someone for an honour or award pages of the GOV.UK website.