7 Warringtonians named on Queen’s birthday honours list

Ruben and Elena Evans-Guillen – from Padgate – will receive the British Empire Medal for their services to charitable fundraising during the coronavirus pandemic it was announced last night, Wednesday.

The youngsters have embarked upon countless missions in the name of good causes over the past five years, raising around £50,000 for the likes of Warrington and Halton Hospitals’ Charity and the Warrington Foodbank.

And they are the youngest inclusion on this year's list.

Ruben and Elena at the beginning of their fundraising journey

Meanwhile, two residents of the borough have been handed OBEs.

Kids Planet Day Nurseries chief executive Clare Roberts, from Lymm, is appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to education.

And Imperial College London’s professor of tropical paediatric infectious disease Kathryn Maitland, from Appleton, receives her accolade for services to medical science.

Halton and St Helens Voluntary and Community Action chief executive Sally Yeoman, also from Warrington, has been awarded an MBE for services to the community.

The 49-year-old’s ‘tireless’ efforts include working to preserve the St Marie’s Church in Widnes to use as the organisation’s base after the historic building was saved from demolition.

Picture by Halton and St Helens Voluntary and Community Action

Also receiving BEMs are Christina Noble, from Lymm, and Hollins Green Community Shop manager Julie Atkinson.

Eighty-one-year-old Christina was handed her medal for services to ice skating, having served as an official for both short track speed skating and figure skating for the past 50 years.

Affectionately known as ‘Happy Aura’, the line judge, timekeeper and technical advisory committee member was described as an ‘outstanding ambassador for ice skating’ and is a ‘respected figure’ within the sport in the UK.

And Julie was honoured for services to the community in Hollins Green during Covid-19.

The 49-year-old went ‘above and beyond all expectations’ to support vulnerable people in keeping the community shop – a not-for-profit scheme set up in 2015 – running throughout the pandemic through her ‘determination and sheer hard work’.

Julie serving a customer in the Hollins Green Community Shop

This included offering a home delivery service to those shielding.

She has ‘built the business from scratch to become a success and hub for the community’ and worked six days a week ‘without pause’ between March and September 2020.

Detective sergeant Mark Fenton, an online abuse investigator with Cheshire Police from Knutsford, was also handed an MBE for services to policing.

They were named alongside famous faces including illustrator Sir Quentin Blake and author Sir Salmon Rushdie, both of whom were handed the Order of Merit.

Fellow writer Ian Rankin was knighted, while broadcaster Clare Balding was honoured with a CBE and footballers Rio Ferdinand and Luther Blissett were the recipients of OBEs – as were cricketer Moeen Ali and former Wigan Warriors rugby league player Sean O’Loughlin.

Welsh international Gareth Bale and Liverpool’s James Milner were given MBEs.