NEW YEAR'S HONOURS: Charity man, veteran and director of nursing among those recognised

Brendon Cross, said he felt ‘hugely proud’ and ‘incredibly’ humbled to be listed in the Queen’s New Year’s honours for his services to people with physical disabilities.

Sir Roger Bannister has been made a Companion of Honour in the New Year's list 

Mr Cross, 52, has help raised about £500,000 for SpecialEffect, based in Charlbury, by being a driving force behind the Witney Twin Town Challenge to Le Toquet car rally in 2014 and this year.

The father-of-two who lives in Sutton, West Oxfordshire, said it was a complete shock to find out he had been given an BEM.

He added: “The guys at SpecialEffect do such fantastic work. It’s life changing what they do. SpecialEffect is one big family and the Twin Town challenge is just one big family. This award is recognition of all their hard work and support.”

Mr Cross, who is the managing director of STL Communications, said he joined SpecialEffect, a charity which gives disabled people access technology to play games and interact with friends and family, five years ago.

He added: “I met with Dr Mick Donegan for a coffee and we had a chat. I went across for half an hour and was still there three to four hours later. I was hooked.”

From there Mr Cross went on to organise the Twin Town challenge, which is now a permanent fixture in the charity’s calendar. The trip in past years has seen huge convoys of cars travel thousands of miles to raise cash.

Mr Cross said he was expecting the challenge to raise between £20,000 and £30,000 in the first year, but managed to raised £130,000. He added the charity was now aiming to hit the million pound mark.

Entries for the 2018 Twin Town Challenge will open in January.

Jack Perry

A FLIGHT engineer who was just 19 when his Halifax Bomber crashed shortly after take-off in August 1944 will become an MBE.

Edward John Perry, also known as Jack, has been recognised for his services to veterans through his contribution to The Guinea Pig Club in the New Year Honours list.

Suffering 80 per cent burns to his hands, face and ears, Mr Perry – who lives in Harwell – became a member of the club that was formed during the Second World War by RAF aircrew men who had suffered severe burns and underwent pioneering treatment at the hands of New Zealand plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe.

The severity of Mr Perry’s burns saw him undergo 18 operations at Rauceby Hospital, Lincolnshire and 12 in East Grinstead.

Now 91, Mr Perry has been social secretary for the club for a number of years and organised many social trips and outings to keep Mr McIndoe’s ethos alive that club members must stay together and support each other.

The great-grandfather previously said: “Being a Guinea Pig to me is something I have always cherished.

“It has been my life for the last 45 years – we are a band of brothers.”

Mr Perry left school at 14 and joined the Air Training Corps two years later before volunteering for air crew at 18.

Beverley Darlison 

She was awarded a British Empire Medal for her help running a summer play scheme at Fitzwaryn special school in Wantage for the past ten years.

She and her small committee raise £3,000 each year to put on entertainment, workshops and pay for insurance for the week.

Mrs Darlison, who lives in Littleworth Hill, Wantage, with her husband and her son James, who has Down’s Syndrome, said she was ‘thrilled’.

She said: “I never did it for the recognition.”

Ros Alstead

The director of nursing and clinical standards at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust said it was ‘lovely’ to be recognised by colleagues after more than 35 years in the NHS.

Ros Alstead, 57, was made an OBE for her role overseeing the work of hundreds of nurses across the trust.

She attended London University and St George’s Hospital with a degree in general health nursing and began working as a nurse herself in 1997 after qualifying as a registered mental health nurse.

She said: “I am extremely privileged and proud to be a nurse. It’s a fantastic occupation with great highs and lows.

“Nurses are dedicated, amazing people who commit their lives to helping people when they need it most.”

Keri Thomas

A mum of five has been made an OBE in this year’s host of New Year’s Honours for her services to end of life care.

Professor Keri Thomas, from Bampton near Witney, has worked more than 25 years as a GP with an interest in palliative care.

She has been award for this commitment as well as setting up national framework for higher standards of end of life care.

The professor is the founder and national clinical lead of The National Gold Standards Framework which guides people on how to care for people nearing the end of life.

It is a not-for-profit organisation which now has 14 centres right across the country, which work with hospices all over the UK.

Prof Thomas founded the organisation in 2000 to produce a ‘gold standard’ for care and includes providing training across the country.

She also wrote the book ‘Caring for the Dying at Home’ and editor of ‘Advance Care Planning in End of Life Care’. But says her biggest achievement is being mum to five children.

Rachel Griffiths 

An advisor to the Care Quality Commission said she was ‘honoured’ to be made an MBE - once she realised it was not a mistake.

Rachel Griffiths, the Mental Capacity Act lead to the Care Quality Commission, assumed her letter had been intended for a colleague when it arrived at her Chipping Norton home last month.

She said: “I had been asked to support a nomination for somebody else. I thought ‘Oh, fools’. I thought they’d got the wrong person.

“I was astonished, but honoured. This is an acknowledgement of how important the work is that I try to do.”

Ms Griffiths, an alumnus at Oxford University’s Somerville College, was formerly the care governance lead at Oxfordshire County Council.

Her work at the CQC involves educating healthcare professionals about the Mental Capacity Act, which empowers people who might not be able to make decisions around their care.

It also allows people to make advance decisions to refuse treatment, or have a trusted person act on their behalf, if they later lack capacity - for example, if they later get into an accident or develop dementia.

Ms Griffiths said: “It’s desperately important that staff understand how the Mental Capacity Act works.

“This is making sure that health professionals look after you in a way that respects your human rights, and CQC inspectors can inspect hospitals, GPs and care homes against it accordingly.”

She also works with national committees and medical Royal Colleges to make sure GPs and doctors ‘understand what their powers are - and what their powers aren't.

Stephanie Hale

An author and literacy consultancy director said she is pleased the importance of books has been recognised after she was given a BEM.

Stephanie Hale from Oxford runs The Oxford Literacy Consultancy, which helps authors to write, sell and promote their books.

Her own works include The Millionaire Author Mindset and Millionaire Property Author.

The 50-year-old said: “The thing with books and authors is that they quietly get on with it a lot of the time.

“Books are just there in the background a lot of the time so it is nice to get this recognition.”

Ms Hale was awarded her BEM for services to author and literature.

She has lived in Oxford for more than 20 years and is a former journalist and newsreader.

She said: “I was very surprised when I found out I was getting the BEM.

“I got a letter through the post about six weeks ago.

“I thought at first that it was a letter from the taxman, so it was a very pleasant surprise.

“The most important thing is helping people who are unknown.

“I work with some very famous people but the most exciting thing is working with people who are unknown.”

Colin Mayer

The first professor of Oxford University’s business school says he is ‘tremendously proud’ of its progress after being honoured for his work.

Colin Mayer, 63, was closely involved in setting up the Said Business School, which was formally established 20 years years ago, and has also been its dean.

He was yesterday made a CBE in the New Year’s Honours list for ‘services to business education and the administration of justice in the economic sphere’.

In addition to his academic work, he is a member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Prof Mayer, of Polstead Road, in Oxford, said: “It’s a huge honour and I’m extremely grateful.

“The school has been very successful and I’m tremendously proud of it.”

Katherine Grainger

SHE may have already won Olympic gold and four silver medals but Oxford Brookes chancellor Katherine Grainger has picked up another honour after being made a DBE.

Dame Katherine, as she will now be known, was recognised for her services to sport and charity.

Oliver Morley from Wallingford, who is the chief executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, was made a CBE, while Professor Valentine Cunningham of Corpus Christi College was made an OBE.

Barrister and author Emma Chamberlain was also made an OBE, for services to government tax policy, as was Professor John Furlong, Emeritus Professor of Education at Oxford University.

In Steeple Aston, near Bicester, there was celebration at Dr Radcliffe’s Church of England Primary School where deputy headteacher Guy Brigg was made an MBE, the same honour was afforded to Philippa Hoyer Millar, who founded the Footsteps Centre.

The centre provides intensive physiotherapy for children and young adults affected by a range of disabilities.

Richard Barnes from Abingdon was given a BEM for services to the community in the town, while Susan Carter from Didcot got the same honour for services to science and technology.

Professor Keri Thomas from Bampton was made an OBE for services to end of life care while Gordon Phillips from Carterton was made an MBE for services to young people with special educational needs.