Big birthday surprises for North people

Bob Murray, a 63-year-old businessman from Consett, County Durham, who guided Sunderland for 20 years, is to receive a knighthood.

He oversaw the Black Cats move from Roker Park to the £22.5m Stadium of Light in 1997 and founded the SACF Foundation, the club’s charity arm, which helps young people’s development through sport.

The honour is for his services to football and education in the region.

Mr Murray said last night: “I feel incredibly proud and am overwhelmed to receive such an enormous honour.

“I see this award as being not just for me personally but for my family, friends and many business colleagues I have worked with and who have supported me and helped me achieve my ambitions in life.”

Mr Murray founded the kitchen and bathroom fitting company Spring Ram, in 1978 and it grew to employ more than 2,000 people.

Mr Murray, who watched his first Sunderland match in 1955, sold his shares in the club to an Irish consortium, led by former player Niall Quinn, in 2006 but remains Honorary Life President.

Among the region’s other winners are pensioner Peter Beaty, who receives an MBE after dedicating his life to charity and voluntary work..

Mr Beaty, 78, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, started his charity work when he was 14 by raising funds for his local church.

He went on to fundraise for the National Grocers Benevolent Fund, Darlington Memorial Hospital, Greenfield School, Help The Aged and more.

In 1994, he formed Friends of Senior Citizens to look after elderly people in Newton Aycliffe. He took over Neville Parade Community Centre and is responsible for its £50,000 refurbishment.

Mr Beaty’s daughter, Allison Mendelsohn, said: “He suffers from diabetes and has undergone a knee replacement, but his personal situation has never come between him and his fundraising.

“His door is always open and his kindness knows no bounds. As long as he is helping someone, somewhere, he is happy.”

Mr Beaty said: “This award, in my opinion is for my family and all the volunteers who have worked with me over the past 65 years, and I am delighted to receive this honour in that spirit.”

Joanna Tait, who retired as principal of Bishop Auckland College in April, is recognised with an OBE after devoting her life to further education.

The 65-year-old from Barnard Castle, spent 15 years as principal of the college on Woodhouse Lane, helping more than 150,000 students achieve their potential.

She was also at the helm as the college’s new £17.5m campus took shape and has been a tireless campaigner for funding for adult learning.

“After 40 years of working in adult and further education I have really had an opportunity to work, study and learn from so many wonderful people,” she said yesterday.

John Widdowson, principal of New College Durham for the past 12 years, gets a CBE, for services to further and higher education.

The 55-year-old, from Pity Me, Durham, oversaw the creation of a new £36m campus five years ago, and the college last year received an outstanding report from Ofsted.

Mr Widdowson said: “I was very surprised to get this award but also very pleased.”

Headteacher Angela Darnell, who has guided Egglescliffe School, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, through a number of glowing Ofsted reports, receives an OBE.

She said: “Through sheer hard work and the commitment of a very talented group of teachers and support staff, the school has become one of the most successful and highest achieving in the North- East. This award is recognition of that success.”

The state-funded school gained specialist school status in 1999 for performing arts and gained a second specialism in Science in 2008. It has been inspected twice by Ofsted and graded outstanding both times.

Dr Edwin Pugh, consultant in palliative medicine at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, is awarded an MBE.

Apart from his work with patients at the end of their lives, Dr Pugh has worked with refugees in Cambodia and Rwanda.

He was closely involved in setting up the new Buttwerick adult and children’s hospice in Stockton.

Trust chief executive Alan Foster said: “Edwin does an amazing job for patients and their families right across the trust. If ever an award was well deserved, it is this one.”

Social worker Suzy Kitching is honoured with an MBE for helping families affected by drugs.

She was pivitol in setting up the Families First team in Middlesbrough and manages the service which supports every member of the family from pre-birth to parents gripped by drug addictions.

She said: “It’s a wonderful tribute to Families First, a team of highly skilled and motivational workers, and to key champions within Middlesbrough Council, who have consistently supported and nurtured the development of the service.”

Jackie Postgate, of Sedgefield, County Durham, is honoured for voluntary service to Girl Guiding by being appointed an MBE.

Mrs Postgate has ran troops in the Sedgefield area for more than 40 years.

Lesley Taylor, from Cotherstone, in Teesdale, is appointed an MBE for services to the community.

For 20 years, she has supported the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, chairing the Teesdale committee, chaired the Friends of Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, from 2000 to 2005 and became a trustee in 2002.

She said: “I have worked with many good people through the years and feel I would not be getting it but for their support as a lot of what I have done has been a team effort.”

Jonathan Blackie, regional director of the Government Office for the North-East, receives a CBE for his services, and Margaret Southren, the deputy headteacher of FOOTBALL SERVANT: Former Sunderland Football Club chairman Bob Murray, who is knighted in the Birthday Honours Durham Trinity School a CBE for services to special needs education.

Keith Tondeur, of Hawnby, near Bedale, of North Yorkshire, a former top-level broker, is given an OBE.

He founded Credit Action, a national money charity set up to help people handle their finances better to try to help them avoid debt, in 1990.

He said: “I feel tremendously proud and grateful to get it and I was not expecting it at all. I wish it was a cake so I could share it out with all the staff who have helped me.”

Judith Million, from Crook, County Durham, deputy regional director of the Government Office for the North- East, is appointed an OBE in recognition of public service spanning 30 years.

Psychiatric nurse and ward manager Malcolm Allen, of Sedgefield, County Durham, is appointed an MBE for services to mental healthcare.

He is based at Auckland Park Hospital, in Bishop Auckland, which cares for elderly patients, with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.

North Yorkshire CBE Ann Margaret Green, of York.

Chairwoman, Board of Trustees, Royal Armouries. For services to museums.

Terence Hodgkinson, of Wakefield.

Chairman of Yorkshire Forward, Regional Development Agency. For services to Business and to Regeneration.

OBE Paul Warren Kendrew, of Harrogate.

Senior Official, HM Revenue and Customs.

Sian Lockwood, of Harrogate.

Chief executive, Community Catalysts (NAAPS UK). For services to Social Care.

Robert Mullen, of York. Governor, HM Prison Lindholme, HM Prison Service.

Johanna Senior, of Scarborough.

For services to the Administration of Justice.

Professor Deborah Frances Smith, of York. Professor of Molecular Parasitology, University of York and Chair, Medical Research Council Infections and Immunity Board. For services to Science.

Christopher Stevens, of Richmond.

Formerly head of Inclusion Policy, British Educational and Communications Technology Agency. For services to Special Needs Education.

Keith Tondeur, of Bedale. President, Credit Action. For services to Financial Education.

MBE Sally Bell, of Tadcaster. Associate director of Emergency Preparedness, NHS Yorkshire and the Humber. For services to Nursing.

Mrs Margaret Paradine Bull, of Whitby. For voluntary service to Save the Children in Whitby.

Joyce Carroll, of Cleveland. For services to the Administration of Justice and to the community in the North East.

Anthony Hugh Dent, of Harrogate.

Diversity and Human Rights Officer, National Policing Improvement Agency. For services to the Police.

Diane Lofthouse, of Harrogate.

For services to the Prevention of Disability Hate Crime.

Elizabeth Jayne Peck, of York. Senior Executive Officer, pension, Disability and Carers’ Service, Department for Work and Pensions.

James Witham, of Harrogate.

Porter and Driver, Harrogate Health Care NHS Foundation Trust. For services to the NHS.

Tyne and Wear KNIGHTS BACHELOR Robert Sydney Murray, CBE, of Jersey. For services to football and to education in the North-East.

CBE Gavin McFarlane Black, of Newcastle.

For services to the community in the North-East.

Jonathan Blackie, of Newcastle.

Regional director, Government Office for the North-East, Department for Communities and Local Government.

OBE Diana Barnes, of Newcastle. For services to mental healthcare.

Alec Coles, of Perth, Australia. Formerly director, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. For services to Museums.

Anne Reid, born in Newcastle.

Actor. For services to drama.

David George Stout, of North Shields. Executive director of Finance and Communications, NHS North East Strategic Health Authority.

For services to the NHS.

MBE Donald Scott Charlton, of North Shields. For voluntary service to the Scouts in the North-East.

Lisa Charlton, of Newcastle. For voluntary service to Disabled People in Tyne and Wear.

Andrew Gibson, of Newcastle. For services to Young People in Scotswood, Newcastle.

Suzanne Kitching, of Faceby, North Yorkshire. Manager, Families First Service, Middlesbrough. For services to children and families.

Geraldine Ling, of Gateshead.

Artistic director, Lawnmowers Theatre Group. For services to people with special needs in Tyne and Wear.

Thomas Millen, of Newcastle. Mentor and Advisor, Learning Disabilities Team, Northumberland Care Trust. For services to Healthcare.

The Reverend Canon Suzanne Jane Pinnington, of Houghton-le- Spring. For services to the community in Cottingley West Yorkshire.

Raymond Spencer, of South Shields. Executive director, Customs House, South Shields. For services to the Arts in the North- East.

Michael Wharton, of Houghton-le- Spring. Senior Executive Officer, Pension, Disability and Carers’ Service, Department for Work and Pensions.

Paul Winter, of South Shields. Business Design Expert, Modernising Pay As You Earn processes for customers, Sunderland, HM Revenue and Customs.

Durham CBE John Furness Widdowson, of Durham. Principal, New College Durham. For services to local and national further and higher education.

OBE Angela Darnell, of Durham. Headteacher, Egglescliffe School, Stockton. For services to education.

Judith Ann Million. Deputy Regional director, Government Office for the North-East. (Crook, Durham) Joanna Elisabeth Anne Tait-Lovatt, of Barnard Castle. Formerly principal and chief executive, Bishop Auckland College. For services to local and national education.

MBE Malcolm Allen, of Sedgefield. Psychiatric nurse and ward manager, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. For services to mental healthcare.

Hilda Armstrong, of Chester-le- Street. Formerly senior physiotherapy and orthotic assistant. For services to the NHS and to the community in Chester-le-Street.

Peter Beaty, of Durham. For services to the community in Newton Aycliffe County Durham.

Mrs Mary Judd. of High Pittington.

For services to the community in High Pittington, near Durham.

David Anthony McGuigan, of Durham. Manager, Longbenton Youth Project, Newcastle. For services to Young People.

Margaret Mather Mineham, of Stockton. Curriculum manager, Cleveland College of Art and Design.

For services to further education.

Margaret Jacqueline Postgate, of Stockton. For voluntary service to Girl Guiding in Sedgefield, County Durham.

Professor Edwin John Pugh, of Darlington. Consultant in palliative medicine, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. For services to medicine.

Margaret Ann Southren, of Durham. Deputy Headteacher, Durham Trinity School. For services to special needs education.

Lesley Taylor, of Barnard Castle.

For services to the community in County Durham.

Anne Cameron Ward, of Peterlee.

For services to the community in Peterlee, County Durham.

John Harry White, of Durham. For voluntary service to the Prison Service Charity Fund.