4 Warrington people named in Queen's Birthday Honours

Gongs have been handed out to PSCO Tony Spruce, who set up the VPX festival in Victoria Park, Su Williams, a community stalwart in Lymm, Paul Hancock, the former chief fire officer at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and Clare Hayward, board member at Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.

More than 1,000 people across the UK have received honours including actress Olivia Colman, broadcaster Dan Snow, adventurer Bear Grylls and author Lee Child.

TONY SPRUCE

Tony Spruce has received the BEM for service to policing.

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The 48-year-old has been a PCSO for Latchford for the past 12 years.

He is perhaps best known for setting up the Victoria Park Experience, more commonly known as ‘VPX’, with colleague Tom Reardon in 2008 to help tackle anti-social behaviour during summer holidays.

Tony, left, and Tom

He is now a driving force in the planning and organisation of this free annual event which provides various activities for families including archery, touch rugby, football, climbing walls and various other sport and physical activities.

Attendance has grown continually with more than 11,000 going during the four days it was held during August 2017. Due to the success of VPX, colleagues in another part of Cheshire have now set up a similar annual event.

He also helped set up Westy Boxing Club in 2015 for young people following an increase in anti-social behaviour. Weekly attendances now average 40 children, and as a result further boxing clubs have been set up in Warrington.

He added: “We try to make sure that everything we do is varied because not everyone likes sport. I will try everything once. I’m very lucky because my inspectors always back me.

“It is team work a lot of it. Nothing can be done without the support we get. VPX is run by Livewire, Warrington Wolves Foundation and Warrington Town FC and we had great support from the Fire Service when it started off.

Inspector Neil Drum from Warrington LPU, Chief Constable Darren Martland, PCSO Tony Spruce and Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire David Keane

“I’m very lucky with the partners we have because we all want the same thing. VPX Warrington has a lot of people who want to work on it and the people who were kids who came to it and now help us run it.”

Tony will pick up his award at a Royal Investiture in the near future.

David Keane, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, said: “PCSO Tony Spruce embodies the true ethos of the role of a police community support officer; he is truly dedicated to making the community he serves a safer and happier place to live.

“He knows the value of community and is passionate about reducing anti-social behaviour which saw him develop the Victoria Park Experience as a diversion activity 12 years ago. His hard work and dedication to develop this event has seen the event grow into one of the biggest annual events in Cheshire.

“He truly deserves this recognition which is testament to his devotion to his career over so many years.”

Inspector Neil Drum, from Warrington Local Policing Unit, said: “Tony has shown exceptional commitment to improve the quality of life for young people, frequently going above and beyond.

“He exemplifies everything that we want in a PCSO, a problem solver, visible and known within the community and demonstrates excellent partnership working being able to negotiate, influence and secure support for a range of activities he works on - not least VPX which goes from strength to strength and has made a positive impact on the community.”

SU WILLIAMS

Su Williams will be a familiar face to many in the community in Lymm and has received an MBE.

From her early involvement as deputy chair of Lymm High PTA and as a governor of Oughtrington School Su demonstrated her commitment to that ethos of 'making a difference'.

She was actively involved in Lymm Festival for many years, taking responsibility for establishing Foodfest as well as organising many other one-off events and exhibitions.

Su Williams

Her most lasting contribution was Art in the Garden that ran for more than 10 years in the canalside garden of the family home, attracting thousands of visitors while also giving a platform to local artists but also to Risley inmates and the disadvantaged to show what they could achieve.

Art in the garden

When the future of Lymm Youth & Community Centre looked in doubt in 2012 Su stepped in to join the team. She not only set up Sunday teas and manned them herself for a couple of years to raise money and awareness but also established a junior youth club which she ran successfully with the help of others for a number of years. She is still involved at the centre today.

Su served as a parish councillor for four years – attracting a huge personal vote in her Statham ward, and becoming the first Labour representative in Lymm for more than 40 years.

Su’s most recent venture was to initiate, along with husband Alan again, the idea of the new Lymm Heritage Centre. In just four years that has gone from being a 'pipe-dream' to a successful part of the fabric of the village with more than 15,000 visitors since opening in June 2017.

It was only in the last New Year’s Honours that Alan himself was awarded a British Empire Medal.

He said: “No-one could be more thrilled than me that the community has sought and been granted this award for Su.

"I was honoured to receive the BEM but so conscious that Su deserved recognition far more than me.

"I couldn’t even list the very many individuals and groups that Su has supported over the years from a fistula hospital in Addis Ababa to today’s Syrian refugees. I know that she been a role model and inspiration for many – myself included."

PAUL HANCOCK

Paul Hancock, who retired from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) in June last year after 34 years in fire and rescue, has been made an OBE.

He became Chief Fire Officer in October 2009 having previously held the post of deputy since joining Cheshire in 2007. 

Paul’s drive to achieve saw CFRS undergo a major change programme between 2013 and 2018 to increase efficiency and improve how it provides services to the community. In addition to saving £7.7m, the Service was recognised nationally for its approach to improving community safety, medical co-response.

His innovative approach to collaboration is evident through establishing the Blue Light Collaboration programme with Cheshire Police. This sees joint teams deliver support services to both organisations, the first such arrangement in the country. 

Paul Hancock

A spokesman said: "Paul’s vision and leadership has resulted in significant transformation of fire and rescue at national and local levels. In addition to his role of Chief Fire Officer, he was President of the Chief Fire Officers Association during 2015-16.

"As President he fundamentally transformed the structure of the organisation, leading to the creation of the National Fire Chiefs Council. This saw the establishment of a dedicated Chair, overhaul of governance arrangements and structures, and the introduction of nine committees to underpin and drive improvement across the sector.  This has enabled fire and rescue services to improve co-ordination on national and critical issues, improve sector leadership and technical advice and foster better engagement with Government and others – crucial as responsibility for fire and rescue transferred to the Home Office during his tenure."

A keen sportsperson, Paul is voluntary chair of Active Cheshire, a charity aiming to embed physical activity into everyday life.