Sussex residents recognised in 2021 New Year's Honours List

Extraordinary dedication and years of service in their fields have led people across the country to be recognised by the Queen.

Among them is Roger Cohen, 66, from Brighton, who has volunteered for the RNLI at Brighton and Newhaven lifeboat stations for 39 years.

During his long-standing service at both stations, he has been directly involved in 2,260 lifeboat launches resulting in 248 lives saved to date, including the crew of the yacht Asterionella in 1986 after the vessel sank in a storm off Brighton.

Roger Cohen MBE

Under the leadership of Mr Cohen, who now serves as a lifeboat operations manager, Brighton became the first station to take part in a Pride Parade and the first LGBT-accredited station in the RNLI.

He has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to the RNLI and charity.

Mr Cohen, who plans to continue his volunteer work for many years, said it was humbling to receive the honour.

He said: “I’ve gone from being on a capsized lifeboat to being at the floods in Lewes in 2000, to joining the Tower lifeboat station, which was a new venture for the RNLI and helping in its early years.

“I don’t think every life saved is down to me, but I’ve certainly been part of the team. Every volunteer will say when a life is saved, that is a precious moment and you don’t get to sleep that night, thinking about how you’ve dramatically changed that person’s life, and it stays with you for a long time.”

He encouraged others to also volunteer for the service and said: “Give it a try - it opens up doors to new skills and teaching that you do not have at the present time.”

Zimran Samuel MBE

Also receiving an MBE is human rights barrister Zimran Samuel, 36, from Brighton, who took on cases of domestic abuse and violence pro bono during the pandemic.

He said: “I had no idea someone put me forward, so when I first got the envelope and it said HM Government, I thought I was in trouble for something.

“It’s been a massive and unexpected surprise. The work I was recognised for is one I wish wasn’t there.

“There were so many people who worked hard to keep the child protection system and the family justice system running who are far more deserving than me, such as social workers, lawyers and local authority professionals - who made the system work in extremely difficult circumstances last year.”

Mr Samuel wanted to find a way to help others during the first lockdown other than showing his appreciation to the NHS by clapping every Thursday.

He said: “Like so many people, all I could do was clap from a balcony for front-line workers, but I said to my wife that there’s got to be more that we could do.

“I started to take up those cases pro bono because at that time, even in the three weeks of the first lockdown, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline said that referrals went up by 49 per cent.”

He set up a scheme to help those affected by domestic violence and abuse, meeting clients and representing them at court sessions in virtual meetings, allowing him to support survivors anywhere in the country.

One of the most startling cases he worked on was of an NHS nurse who returned from a shift in the first few weeks of the pandemic, only to be beaten “black and blue” by her husband who had lost his job and was drinking excessively.

Mr Samuel typically worked on dozens of cases every week and said he was able to secure a positive result for his clients in all of them.

He said: “There was a massive sense of relief in these people. Almost every case ended with tears of happiness and I won’t forget sitting in my kitchen and hearing people say how much it meant to them.”

Susan Fleet MBE

Managing director of Lea Graham Associates Susan Fleet, 64, from Burgess Hill, has also been awarded an MBE for services to music, charity and fundraising.

For the last 50 years, she has spent her life dedicated to good causes, including founding the Cantemus Choir, as well as raising millions for a range of charities and recording a CD with renowned jazz singer and BBC radio presenter Claire Martin OBE, who lives in Brighton. She has also starred in every Gilbert and Sullivan Opera as a leading soprano.

She credits her love of music to her father’s love of Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as her encouraging music teacher at school.

Ms Fleet said: “I’ve had these wonderful experiences throughout my life to sing so many different genres of music and I’ve enjoyed all of them.

“Music is a universal language and has the ability to touch someone’s soul and lift their spirits.

“It’s great to think that you can use your God-given talents to help other people, but I think the actual performances have also been very special to people.”

She plans to arrange more events, including a memorial concert for her “very supportive husband” who passed away last year, and for her close friend, the late Dame Vera Lynn.

Ms Fleet said Dame Vera was an “extraordinary and humble lady”, so much so that it was possible to sit next to her and forget she was sitting next to a “living legend”.

She said: “I felt very privileged indeed to be a friend of hers and to help her. We used to sing together in the car on the way to events together - to have that shared love of music put a very close bond there. It was like driving with the Crown Jewels beside you.”

Mhairi Sharp MBE

Mhairi Sharp, 32, from East Preston, has also been awarded an MBE for services to the Covid-19 response, after playing a leading role in raising over £100 million for organisations struggling during the pandemic through her role as chief executive for the National Emergencies Trust, despite the charity only being founded in November the previous year.

Within ten days of launching a national coronavirus appeal, the National Emergencies Trust had begun to distribute funds to all part of the UK and, by July 2020, over £61 million had been distributed to some 8,000 charities, working to meet the needs of hungry, lonely, vulnerable and isolated people throughout the country.

As part of her fundraising efforts, she persuaded Channel 4 to rebroadcast the 1966 World Cup final in June, raising over £400,000.

Ms Sharp said organisations were quick to approach the charity and eager to donate to support their efforts.

She said: “We received over £40 million from large companies - within hours, we were receiving calls offering £1 million towards the appeal. It was that immediate reaction that people were behind us and people wanted to give.”

In a matter of weeks, Ms Sharp expanded her team from three to 168, with people volunteering and offering their time to fundraise and have a positive impact.

She said: “There were very long days, seven days a week, but we kept motivated and true to the mission by looking at the case studies of people we helped.

“We’ve now supported 14,500 grants to charities across the country and each of those comes with a case study of what that money has supported. Every morning at our team meeting, we would have one of the team members read out those impact stories and it was really simple but hard-hitting, such as the beneficiaries of a food bank saying they had had the first food they’d had on their table in four days.

“It wasn’t hard to get out of bed in the morning and keep working when you’re hearing those stories.”

Sharon Davies MBE

Sharon Davies, 53, from Hurstpierpoint, said she is “absolutely thrilled and shocked” to be awarded an MBE for her services to logistics in her role as vice president for regulatory and public affairs for DHL Express Europe.

Serving as an ambassador for the logistics industry for more than 25 years, Ms Davies has sought to champion women in logistics, worked with charities to coordinate shipments of PPE and other essential aid during the pandemic and has highlighted the operational needs of the industry among policymakers in areas including cross-border customs operations, night flying and urban logistics.

She said: “It is a huge honour and I feel very proud to be recognised in this way.

“I think the last two years have been challenging for logistics - from managing the changes brought about by Brexit to coping with the pandemic - customers have relied on logistics companies increasingly to get products to their homes through e-commerce but also to support the retail sector by getting goods on to shelves in supermarkets, as well as supporting other sectors such as medical and healthcare.

“If anything - I think logistics has become more well known for the very important role it plays in our daily lives.”

Ms Davies said championing other women in the workplace and enabling those in the developing world to start their own businesses was an area close to her heart.

She said: “I have been working for nearly 30 years now and have seen many changes in society and I think everyone should be supported to the best they can be.

“I have received a lot of support over the years from mentors, peers and business leaders I have met in my role, and I would like other people to benefit just as I have.”

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