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29
Dec
Local heroes included in King's New Year Honours List
A former mayor of Harrogate, an international climate change expert, and a highly successful martial arts instructor are among the 'local heroes' in the King’s New Year Honours list, published today.
Of the 1,157 people to have been awarded this year for their achievements, 84 – or 7% – are from Yorkshire and the Humber.
Knighthood
The highest honour, a knighthood, goes to businessman Richard Harpin, who is best known as the founder and chairman of HomeServe, the emergency home repairs company. The business was sold in 2022 for over £4 billion, netting Mr Harpin an estimated £490 million.
He also bought the Alice Hawthorn pub in Nun Monkton, where he lives, rescuing it from closure over a decade ago.
Despite his business successes, Mr Harpin’s knighthood has been awarded for services to politics. He has been one of the biggest donors to the Conservative Party in recent years, giving it £850,000 in 2024, according to Electoral Commission records, and a total of £3.8 million since 2008.
CBEs
Professor Piers Forster, who lives in Harrogate, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to tackling climate change.
Prof Forster is Professor of Physical Climate Change at the University of Leeds, and chaired the government’s Climate Change Committee for two years until July this year.
As a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he was instrumental in getting the world to aim for a global warming limit of 1.5°C and helped persuade the UK government to adopt its Net Zero 2050 target.
He is a longtime supporter of Longlands Common, between Harrogate and Knaresborough, and earlier this year said he was “blown away” when a wood was named after him.
Another Harrogate resident to have been awarded a CBE is Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s, for services to the retail industry.
MBEs
Caroline Bayliss, who was mayor of the Borough of Harrogate in 2006, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the community in Harrogate and North Yorkshire.
Mrs Bayliss served on Harrogate Borough Council from 1983 to 1986 and again from 2002 to 2016, when she retired as was made an honorary alderman.
She has served as chair of Visit Harrogate and vice-chair of the Yorkshire Dales & Harrogate Area Tourism Partnership, and is also vice-chair of the North of England Horticultural Society, which organises the spring and autumn Harrogate Flower Shows.
One of the county’s most successful martial arts teachers, Kambiz Ali, has been made an MBE, for services to the sport of taekwondo and the community in Harrogate.
Mr Ali, who founded and runs K R Ali Taekwondo Academy at various venues around the town, has been involved with the sport for more than 30 years. He currently holds a 7th Dan Kukkiwon black belt, is an internationally recognised taekwondo master, and an international taekwondo referee.
He has also been a regular competitor at the British taekwondo championships, and has led his academy to success at competitions around the world.
BEM
Finally, Caroline Bentham has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community in Ripon.
Ms Bentham, an ex-Ripon Grammar School pupil, formerly ran the Sun Parlour café in Ripon Spa Gardens. She founded Waste Not Wednesdays, which takes supermarket waste food and turns it into affordable meals at Community House.
She also volunteers with Girlguiding UK and is chair of Friends of Spa Gardens, which organises the annual Winter Wonderland event.
She told the Stray Ferret the award had come as a complete surprise:
To start with, I thought ‘why me?’. I was a bit shocked, really – it just felt a bit ridiculous. It’s weird, embarrassing, lovely – all those things.
I presume it’s for everything I do for the community, but there’s nothing I do that I don’t want to do. I work at Community House, collecting surplus food from supermarkets and using it to make meals for people. It’s like [the BBC's cooking game show] Ready, Steady Cook, really.
And I do a lot for Girlguiding UK, which I absolutely love, and I suppose I’m the driving force behind the Winter Wonderland in the Spa Gardens, but for all these things, I’m just one member of a team.
I replied to the Cabinet Office to say I’d accept the honour, but just so long as people appreciate that I do what I do because I want to, I enjoy it, and I’m just part of a massive team.
The various awards will be presented to the recipients over the coming weeks.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said:
This year’s Honours list celebrates the very best of Britain – people who put the common good ahead of themselves to strengthen communities and change lives.
Their quiet dedication speaks to the decent, compassionate country we are proud to be. On behalf of the whole nation, thank you – and congratulations to everyone recognised today.
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