Greater Manchester is home to many heroes — and some of those have been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list.
But with so many people recognised — more than 1,100 nationally — the Manchester Evening News wanted to pay tribute to some of the very best in this year’s list. That’s why these five award-winners can be considered the creme de la creme of our city-region.
Among the five are hero police officers, pioneering science-funders, and bereavement workers. They sit alongside a grassroots football legend and a fearless Covid-19 doctor - one of them is even an ex-MEN employee.
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Some of the five have seen heartbreak. One of them is Lisa Larkin. also has had a hand in saving lives — from the other side of the ward to Mr Vilches-Moraga. In the late 1980s, she gave birth to a daughter, Rosie. By 1991, her little one had passed away at the age of five.
“We were told Rosie would die on day one,” the now-77-year-old recalled to the M.E.N. “We got the diagnosis and prognosis in the same sentence. She had wonderful care, but nobody had the means to make her well, or other children with neuroblastoma.”
The fact that no one could cure Rosie enraged Lisa. So she started fundraising, via the Friends of Rosie charity.
“We asked around with the money and one of the scientists said ‘we need a pump priming fund to get new ideas off the ground’,” she went on. For the last 30 years, Lisa has helped fund early-stage research in tackling childhood cancers.
She added: “Along the way, we’ve done some really interesting things, and made a breakthrough 18 months ago.” That breakthrough came in children’s bone cancer research, which advanced the understanding of the disease bigger than any other development seen in 40 years.
Understandably, Lisa has been given an MBE. However, it still hasn’t sunk in.
She explained: “It’s extraordinary. I have not quite grasped it yet. When the envelope came through, it looked fairly official and I opened it and my husband said he had never heard me be so quiet for so long. I was just absorbing it.
“It’s not for me. We are all voluntary, and it was only recently that we employed an admin assistant. It’s for the volunteers.”
Tragedy has also been around Oyovwe Sagbodje Kigho, 48. In 2016, her friend lost her husband, which followed a similar bereavement of another pal a few years earlier.
Oyovwe saw how isolated it left her nearest and dearest, and founded the Widows Empowerment Trust (WET) a year later. The charity now offers befriending services, workshops, and organised day-trips so that the recently bereaved are not left alone in grief.
“One of things I picked up on was that we needed a befriending service. We set one up where volunteers go out in the community — a lot of people, when they are bereaved, are isolated,” explained Oyovwe. “That group started to grow, and now I have supported close to 800 people, and we’re across Manchester and Greater Manchester.
“Once a month we organise a meal out that’s bringing smiles to people. When people lose loved ones, they struggle with nutrition and that really helps people, coming round to us.”
But Oyovwe now cares for a lot more people. She went on: “During Covid we went online, and started doing bingo and arts and crafts. During that time our volunteers also helped close to 120 people to access digital technology. We now have clients all over the country and they are digital, but the main focus is still on Greater Manchester.”
And there are no plans on slowing down. Oyovwe, based in Monsall, is using her British Empire Medal to ‘inspire’ more work.
“It’s amazing, I am so excited,” she added. “I am delighted, not for the fact that I am getting an honour, but the fact that a lot of people do not know where to go and now this will raise awareness. That’s my dream.
“I just want to put a smile on people’s faces. Having this recognition gives me more inspiration.”
Trying to stop tragedy has been something of a habit for Mr Arturo Vilches-Moraga.
He is now an MBE, having been the lead clinician for the acute geriatric Covid-19 ward at Salford Royal, at the height of the pandemic. His ward had 27 beds inside.
Over the course of his time in charge, he safely discharged ‘more than 200 people during the second wave of the pandemic’. That’s alongside mentoring more than 100 Chinese and refugee medics over the last eight years, all seeking further medical training.
“I was taken by surprise, delighted and honoured to learn that I was to receive an MBE," he said.
"I am fortunate and grateful for an extremely supportive family, great friends and colleagues, and a working environment that's inspired, enthused, and empowered our teams to deliver innovative and exciting patient-centred initiatives. Older people deserve the best care, and this is what we aspire to provide at Salford Royal Hospital.”
Another person dedicated to helping others is Chief Supt Emily Higham, who has given 28-years of service to Greater Manchester Police.
Throughout her career Higham, the District Commander for Wigan, has focused on securing better outcomes for victims, keeping people safe and fighting, preventing and reducing crime – particularly serious organised crime. On her watch, she has also significantly reduced gun crime and increased weapon hauls.
In 2017, Emily became the first female Detective Superintendent in the Serious and Organised Crime Unit. Two years later, she won the British Association of Women in Policing National Leadership Award and went on to international success in Alaska.
Chief Constable Stephen Watson said: “Chief Superintendent Higham is a dedicated police officer who has always retained an obvious relish for putting criminals on the back foot.
"Whether through her long experience of tackling serious and organised crime or as the District Commander for Wigan, she has sustained an infectious desire to reduce crime, safeguard the vulnerable and to achieve better results for victims and communities. She is a credit to Greater Manchester Police.”
Helping on the frontlines doesn’t have to involve heartbreak, though. Sometimes, organising a good kickabout is as restorative as a weekend away.
No one knows that better than Tony McAllister, from Dane Bank in east Manchester. The 60-year-old, who used to work for this newspaper, started fundraising when he was in primary school.
“I started when I was 10, and I saw an advert in the East Manchester Reporter for a five-a-side tournament, for MacMillan,” he said. “Everyone else playing was bigger than us and we got beat, badly, but I really loved organising it.”
He went on: “The next time I did anything for charity was when I was 15. I was working for the Evening News at the time, I was a messenger from 1978-80. Me and a few friends lived around Constable Street and we had a team called Constable Athletic.”
Since then, he has gone on to form the east Manchester branch of Man United’s supporters club, served on the Manchester FA, and is now secretary at Abbey Hey FC. It’s been a life in football, but one hasn’t been able to live with the support of his family — nor get his BEM.
He explained: “I am absolutely delighted. I was not expecting it. I got a letter on May 13 and it confirmed it, and said I had to keep it confidential.
“I felt very, very proud. My first thought was about my mum and dad. They’ve passed but they would be proud. My family have backed me in everything I have done.”
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