A nanny who raised money for children fleeing war-torn Ukraine is among the everyday heroes recognised in the New Year Honours list.
Louenna Hood, 38, received a British Empire Medal after organising container loads of essentials for refugees who crossed the border to safe countries.
Louenna, of Newmarket, Cambs, who raised £190,000, was moved by the plight of families after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
She said: “It really just broke my heart to think that people were being told to leave their homes.
“It was about three days after war broke out that my friend, who is Polish, sent me pictures of her city back home saying there were hundreds of families walking into their city with nothing.”
Louenna contacted a friend who ran a haulage company and asked if they could arrange “a small van” to travel to Poland.
She said: “By the end of Monday my house was completely full with stuff. It just grew and grew and grew.”
Eventually she sent six containers to help refugees.
Lissie Harper, whose husband PC Andrew Harper, 28, was killed in the line of duty, is among those rewarded for campaigns triggered by tragedy.
She becomes an MBE for “services to victims of violent crime and their families” after sparking a law change.
Andrew was killed near Sulhamstead, Berks, in August 2019 after a report of a burglary.
He was dragged behind an escape car for a mile. His killers were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.
Driver Henry Long was jailed for 16 years while accomplices Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole got 13 years.
Lissie launched a campaign for mandatory life terms for anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker while committing a crime.
Harper’s Law came into force in June. The father of murdered PC Nicola Hughes, 23, said she would be “proud” of his MBE for his work supporting young people who suffered loss due to violent crime.
Bryn Hughes’s daughter was killed in 2012 alongside PC Fiona Bone, 32, in a gun and grenade ambush while on duty in Tameside, Greater Manchester.
Dale Cregan was jailed for the murders in 2013.
Bryn set up the PC Nicola Hughes Memorial Fund in 2014.
The charity helps people under 21 who have lost a relative through violent crime with grants and services.
Bryn, from Huddersfield, West Yorks, admitted his MBE was a “poignant” way to mark 10 years since his daughter’s murder.
He said: “I suppose it’s tinged with that bit of sadness as well because the only reason I’ve been given the award was because of what happened to Nicola and the work I’ve done since then. I think she would be very proud.”
The mother of a girl, nine, who died from an asthma attack and air pollution says her daughter would be “overjoyed” at her CBE.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, of Lewisham, South East London, is recognised for services to public health.
She has been campaigning for the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, dubbed “Ella’s Law”, after her daughter who died in 2013.
Ella was the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death.
The Bill is set to be scrutinised by MPs in the new year after passing the Lords earlier this month.
Rosamund said: “[Ella] would be over the moon.
“Although I got the inquest victory, she would be really, really proud that I just didn’t give up.
“It’s an absolute honour and recognition for the campaign.”
Tony Hudgell’s adoptive mum Paula, of West Malling, Kent, is made OBE for services to children. Tony had his legs amputated because of abuse by birth parents Jody Simpson and Tony Smith.
The pair were jailed for 10 years in 2018.
Tony’s adoptive family fought for Tony’s Law.
The maximum jail term for those who cause or allow a child’s death has risen from 14 years to life imprisonment.
Greater Manchester policeman Jim Jones receives a BEM for his work to improve the way police forces work with military veterans.
Ben Lindsay, 44, of Peckham, who set up charity Power the Fight to end youth violence in South London, receives an OBE.
Patricia Anne Ward-Jones, 69, from Shropshire, got a BEM for charitable services to terminally ill children.
Asrar Ul-Haq DL, 60, from Greater Manchester, received an OBE for services to the community.
Meanwhile, David Sutherland, who has worked for the Beano for 60 years, has been made an OBE for services to illustration.
He has been drawing The Bash Street Kids since 1962 and captured Dennis the Menace from 1970 until 1998.
Mr Sutherland said: “I’ve been so lucky to be able to do something I love for a living, and work with so many talented writers whose words helped bring these characters to life.”
