Political, educational and sporting pioneers honoured

A veteran politician, an inspirational figure in the world of education and a legendary goalkeeper were among those recognised in the recent King’s New Year’s Honours list.

Margaret Beckett, the Labour MP for Derby South, was awarded one of the highest ranks in the British honours after being made a Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for parliamentary, political and public service.

The GBE order is limited to a small select group and comes as Dame Margaret, 80, completes 40 years as MP for Derby South as part of a political career which started as MP for Lincoln in 1974.

She holds the record for the female MP with the longest service overall and is the only sitting MP who served in the Labour governments of the 1970s.

She became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2013 New Year’s Honours.

In March 2022, Dame Margaret announced she would stand down at the next General Election.

In an edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine published last year, she spoke extensively about her political career.

To read the full article visit https://heyzine.com/flip-book/8867b12b48.html#page/4 .

Elsewhere, Sarah Armitage, chair of trustees at Embark Federation, was made an MBE for services to education.

She has spent more than 20 years volunteering in local schools.

As chair of the Embark Federation trust board, she has played a key role in helping the multi-academy trust to grow since its inception in 2019. It now serves 23 schools and 8,000 pupils across Derbyshire.

Sarah said: “It is an honour and a surprise to be awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours List.

“I am passionate about fulfilling the potential of young people across Derbyshire, and it is nice to have been recognised in this way for doing something that I feel so strongly about, and also love doing.”

Fiona Ann Lindop, a specialist physiotherapist in Parkinson’s Disease at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, has been made an MBE for services to physiotherapy.

And finally, former Derby County goalkeeper Peter Shilton has been made a CBE for services to football and to the prevention of gambling harm.

Peter, who played for the Rams from 1987 to 1992, holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football of 1,390.

In January 2020, he said that he had overcome a 45-year gambling addiction and has been working with the UK government to raise awareness of associated issues including mental health problems.