BBC weatherman Derek Brockway, who grew up with on a council estate in Barry, is among the people from the town and Vale of Glamorgan to have been recognised in the Queen’s Honours.
Brockway has been awarded a BEM for his contributions to broadcasting and his charity work.
Plus 56-year-old Marcia-Yvette Hinkson-Gittens – who is from Barry and part of South Wales Police – has been awarded an MBE for her services to diversity in policing.
Derek Brockway
Mr Brockway joined BBC Wales Today in 1997. He also presents a TV show, Weatherman Walking, which is on series 16 and involves him taking viewers on walks around the country.
Mr Brockway has taken on challenging hikes - including in Nepal, Peru, Cuba, and Patagonia -to raise money for Cardiff’s Velindre Cancer Centre, for which he is an ambassador.
“It’s a really great honour and my mum is over the moon,” said Mr Brockway.
“I was brought up on a council estate in Barry with working class parents, and I feel I’ve done pretty well in my career.
“It just goes to show that if you put your mind to it and work hard your dreams can come true.
“If I can do it, anyone can.”
Marcia-Yvette Hinkson-Gittens
Ms Hinkson-Gittens was a founding member of the South Wales Black Police Association (BPA), the National BPA (NBPA) and BPA Cymru.
She has championed change within the police service to ensure officers, staff and communities are treated equally with dignity and respect – including planning and implementing workforce policies to support people’s wellbeing.
Ms Hinkson-Gittens has worked alongside the HMIC and College of Policing to support under-represented officers and police staff facing discrimination. She also published a report on BAME women in policing which made a national impact.
She also engages with community groups and has carried out voluntary work including delivering the Natural Born Leaders Programme to young people of mixed backgrounds to empower them to achieve their potential including working with The Gloves Are On and See, Speak, Save Charities.
She said: “When the letter arrived on my mother’s birthday, I just welled up. I was stuck for words. It felt like the perfect gift from her and I know she would have been so proud.
“It’s so nice to have been recognised but none of it – the work I do or my voluntary work with the BPA and others – is done on my own. None of it would be possible without a huge amount of support from great, understanding family and friends and really good managers and colleagues.
“You just can’t do it alone, so it would be totally remiss of me not to acknowledge everyone who has helped and supported me.
“I always say when one wins, we all win, and I feel like this MBE is something we can all share and celebrate and be proud of.”
Other people in the Vale given Honours
- Former Wales rugby international David Brynmor Williams, from Cowbridge, has been given an MBE for services to sport and to charity in Wales;
- Kay Martin, who is principal of Cardiff and Vale College, has been given an MBE for services to education in Wales;
- Marc Grenville Donovan, from Penarth, is chief pharmacist with Boots UK Ltd and has been given an OBE for services to pharmacy;
- Deborah Elizabeth Rogers, from Penarth, is deputy chief prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service Cymru-Wales has been given a CBE for services to law and order;
- Professor Aled Owain Phillips, who is professor of nephrology with Cardiff University and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, has been given a CBE for services to renal medicine.
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