Three North Somerset women have been recognised in this year's Queen's birthday honours lost.
Susannah Elizabeth Turner from Nailsea as well as Adele Jane Haysom and Emma Jayne Blackmore, both of Portishead, have been commended for their services to social justice, education and the community respectively.
The honours list recognises the outstanding achievements and dedicated service of people across the UK.
Sue has been awarded an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) recognising her commitment to social justice.
Adele has received an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to education, and Emma has been awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for supporting others in Portishead during the pandemic.
Sue was chief executive of Quartet Community Foundation from 2015 until September 2020. Sue Turner left Quartet to take a masters in artificial intelligence and now runs her own company.
Chair of Quartet, Sue Mountstevens, said: “This is a wonderful achievement for Sue personally, as well as the foundation, as it recognises the extraordinary work undertaken by Quartet under Sue’s leadership.
“Sue led and inspired a staff team who have demonstrated their commitment time and time again to social justice and to affect positive change throughout our communities. When the Covid pandemic struck in March 2020, Quartet was well placed to respond rapidly and on a significant scale.
"It is the passion, care and strategic thinking of professionals like Sue Turner and our philanthropy director Ronnie Brown that allowed us to do so much.”
Quartet also extends its congratulations to those people working on behalf of the voluntary sector right across the West of England, including Justin Sargent, chief executive of Somerset Community Foundation, who received an OBE in recognition of his work.
In the past year, Quartet has supported 930 local projects and has recently launched a new Resilience Grant Programme, to offer continuing support to good causes as they look to recover from the pandemic.
Adele is chair of Lighthouse Schools Partnership and has worked with schools and trusts across the South West to strengthen and develop governance best-practice.
She said: “I was surprised but really pleased to receive the news from the Cabinet Office that I had been nominated for an MBE. Hundreds of governors and trustees work hard every week in our trust and across the region to challenge and support schools, to do the best for children and young people.
“I hope that all my fellow governors will feel that their contribution is also recognised through this award.”
Chief executive at the partnership, Gary Lewis, said: “I am so pleased to see Adele honoured in this way. Adele is the embodiment of the best values of public service, and she sets an example of how members of our communities can contribute to improving education.”
Emma is 'delighted' to receive her BEM, which she said came 'completely out of the blue' and was 'such a surprise'.
Emma added: "I feel extremely humbled to receive the honour, as so many members of the local community stepped up to go above and beyond during the pandemic.
"I worked alongside a lot of people in Portishead who all put in a great deal of effort to help anyone who needed assistance over the past year and a half, and I'm glad we are still able to make a difference to those we continue to help.
“This recognition is one for the team and I hope my fellow volunteers see it as that too."
Emma has been a fundamental part of the Portishead Coronavirus Support Network, a group founded in March 2020 to serve residents of the town to support each other and help elderly and vulnerable people during the pandemic.
MORE: Community launches support group to help self-isolators in Portishead
Vice-chairman of Portishead Town Council, Paul Gardner, said: “This is an extremely well-deserved award. I would like to say how immensely grateful the council is for all the support provided by Emma and all the other community volunteers during the Covid crisis.”
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