Happy New Year and congratulations to the 1200+ people named on HM The King’s New Year Honours List 2024!
Published on the 29 December 2023, The New Year Honours List celebrates individuals from across the UK for their service to the country across a wide range of fields and disciplines.
Every year the media is filled with the famous names and faces receiving Honours, but the majority of the list goes to volunteers, community workers, entrepreneurs, and businessmen and women, for their hard work.
Gaining an Honour from The King is the highest form of recognition an individual can receive, so who is on the list this year, and how do you get an Honour from The King?
Who is on the New Year Honours List 2024?
Rachel Gaisburgh-Watkyn, Managing Director of the Tiny Box Company has been awarded an OBE for services to Sustainability, to Ethical Business Growth and to Exports. Rachel founded the business in 2007 after trying and failing to find ethically sourced and recycled packaging for her jewellery and accessories business, instead taking on the challenge to start up her own packaging company.
Martin McTague, Low Pay Commissioner and National Chair for the UK Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), has received an OBE for services to Small Businesses. Martin has served as a volunteer with FSB for more than 20 years. As National Chair, Martin works closely with government and opposition leaders, attending ministerial meetings and representing FSB and its members at the most senior levels to get small businesses voices heard.
Rizwan Javed has been honoured with an MBE for his role in preventing the deaths of 29 people as station assistant for Great Western Railway and now the MTR Elizabeth Line.
Jill Gladwell is the oldest person to be recognised in this year's New Year Honours list. Receiving an MBE at 97-years old for her work with the Royal British Legion. She began collecting for the annual Poppy Appeal as a 14-year-old schoolgirl during the Second World War in 1940.
The youngest person to be recognised in the list is 9 year old Tony Hudgell. He has received a BEM for services to the prevention of child abuse, raising more than £1.8million for the hospital that saved his life following abuse as a baby.
These are just a small handful of individuals honoured in the New Year list, you can view the full list of recipients here.
How do you get an Honour?
If someone you know has made life better for others, inspired and innovated peers, or excels at what they do, they could be eligible to be nominated for a King’s honour.
Anyone can be nominated, and the Cabinet Office explains that it can take between 12–18 months or longer to achieve a result.
National honours nominations are rigorously checked by an Honours Committee to decide who shall receive the prestigious awards in either The King’s Birthday Honours List in June or in the New Year Honours List. In total, there are around 2,200 awards given out every year!
Types of National Honours
There are several types of Honours you can receive. These are:
Dame or Knighthood
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
British Empire Medal (BEM)
Each is awarded depending on the achievements you have detailed in your nomination, you do not specifically choose which level you would like to nominate your candidate for – that is the privilege of the experienced Honours Committee.
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