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31
Dec 2021
Harrogate drum teacher recognised in New Year Honours
The New Year Honours list has been published tonight and a number of residents in the Harrogate district have been recognised for their services to charity and the community.
OBE
Donald Parker, from Knaresborough, has been made an OBE for services to education in North Yorkshire.
Mr Parker is chief executive of the Yorkshire Collaborative Academy Trust. The trust runs five primary schools in Yorkshire including Bilton Grange Primary School.
Mr Parker has years of experience working as a headteacher in Yorkshire's schools.
BEM
Ian Macpherson, from Harrogate, has been made a BEM for services to education.
Mr Macpherson is a percussion tutor who runs Percussive Edge in Harrogate. He said he began playing the drums at 13 and has pursued his hobby ever since.
He has played in numerous bands, as well as several military bands. He joined the army aged 16 and after completing basic training went to Edinburgh and London to train in music.
His military career led him to perform in the 1st Battalion Band of the Royal Scots and he became one of the youngest service personnel to be awarded the coveted Bandmaster qualification at the age of 27.
He now works in Harrogate as a percussion tutor and says over the years he has really enjoyed teaching hundreds of local students. He said some continue to play, including George Farrah who was a finalist in the Young Drummer of the Year 2015. Another student, James Cassells, also from Harrogate, has gone onto perform as part of Asking Alexandra, a rock band now based in Texas made up of men from North Yorkshire.
Speaking about the award Mr Macpherson said:
Mr Macpherson said he owes much of his success to well-known drummer Ronny Bottomley. The former Leeds College of Music teacher has worked with the likes of Cilla Black, Kenny Baker and Dick Morrissey and was the first person to tutor Mr MacPherson at 13 years old.
Mr Macpherson said he hopes to never stop playing but chronic illness and osteoporosis in his upper spine has forced him to reduce teaching to just two days a week.
Read more:
Queen's Ambulance Service Medal
Dr Julian Mark, from Ripon, has been honoured by the Queen for distinguished service.
Dr Mark is the executive medical director for Yorkshire Ambulance Service. He has previously worked at Harrogate District Hospital as senior staff anaesthetist, until 2014.
He chairs the National Ambulance Services’ Medical Directors group and sits on the Clinical Advisory Board for the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care (RCSEd) and on the Clinical Advisory Forum for NHS Improvement.
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