New Year Honours: Unsung Shropshire and Mid Wales heroes are recognised
Heroes of towns and villages from across Shropshire and Mid Wales were today recognised in the New Year’s Honours List.
Joining celebrities, sports stars and politicians, the Queen has honoured people who make a real difference to our county. They include youth leaders, charity volunteers and medical volunteers.
Marion Wynn of Fair Oak, Newport, is made an OBE for her 50 years’ service to the Guides. Janet Woodroffe, a stalwart of the Guides movement in Craven Arms, is also recognised for her work for charitable and voluntary services.
Dave Williams, from Shrewsbury, receives the British Empire Medal for his 40 years service with the British Red Cross, which has seen him teach first aid to thousands of people.
Marion Wynn, 66, was given the honour ‘for services to girl-guiding in the UK and abroad’.
She has served as county commissioner for Shropshire, as well as deputy chief commissioner for the wider Midland region.
Mrs Wynn said she had found it hard to keep her nomination secret after being informed she would be included in the list in November.
She had no idea who had nominated her, but believed the honour probably related to her work in setting up an international database which brings Guides across the world together.
In addition to her work with the Guides, Mrs Wynn is also a volunteer with Cosy Hall community centre in Newport, as well as the Newport Play Barn.
She paid tribute to her husband Martin, who she said had enabled her devote her life to voluntary work, and to her grown-up daughters Emily and Fiona for their patience with her spending so much time working with the guides.
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Mrs Wynn joined the Brownies as a seven-year-old in 1958, and became a volunteer leader nine years later.
“I’m just sorry that those who inspired me, the Brownie leaders and Guide leaders, and my mother, are not here to see me accept this award,” she said.
“I have had so much fun and made so many friends along the way, and it has given me so much confidence.
“I was a shy child, and guiding gave me somewhere I could succeed outside school, where I didn’t quite so much.”
Mrs Wynn was given the honour “for services to girl-guiding in the UK and abroad”.
She has served as county commissioner for Shropshire, as well as deputy chief commissioner for the wider Midland region.
In addition to her work with the Guides, Mrs Wynn is also a volunteer with Cosy Hall community centre in Newport, as well as the Newport Play Barn.
She paid tribute to her husband Martin, who she said had enabled her devote her life to voluntary work, and to her grown-up daughters Emily and Fiona for their patience with her spending so much time working with the guides.
Janet Woodroffe, 72, who has also been involved with the Guides for more than half a century, said she could not believe her eyes when she heard the news, adding: “When the letter came, marked private and confidential, my first thought was ‘what have I done?’.”
The retired accountant had been a member of Craven Arms Guide company since the 1950s, and started volunteering for the organisation in 1961 after completing her Queen’s Guide Award. She is also churchwarden and treasurer at Holy Trinity Church in Wistanstow, and serves on the Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance.
“I suggested a whist drive and the following week I was asked to run it,” he said. “That was in 1977 and I’ve been volunteering ever since.”
Mrs Woodroffe said she was amazed to find she had been nominated.
She was just 16 years old when she started volunteering for the organisation in 1961.
“I suppose I had enjoyed being in the Guides so much, I felt I wanted to give something back,” she said.
