A boxer-turned-firefighter and Oldham-born actress Sarah Lancashire have been recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Greater Manchesters police officers and community champions have also been celebrated, as well as trailblazers in research, education, local government and grassroots sport.

Firefighter Nigel Travis, 44, came up with the knockout idea to convert an unused storage unit in Moss Side fire station yard into a boxing den for youngsters in the area.

The project has flourished since it was set up by the former boxer and two fire service colleagues in 2010.

Nigel and his pals aim to show how the discipline of boxing can have a positive impact on young peoples lives.

Nigel, from Worsley, is awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to boxing and the community.

Im just a boxing coach, said Nigel.

At first I wasnt going to accept it. I felt a bit embarrassed, as Im just doing something that I love.

The dad-of-two said one of his proudest achievements had been in training Connor Tudsbury, who became a national champion.

He turned his life around with boxing, he added.

Oldham-born actress Sarah Lancashire, 52, star of Yorkshire crime drama Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, is made an OBE for her services to drama.

GMP Chf Supt John OHare has been recognised for managing many of the major events held across Greater Manchester, awarded the Queens Police Medal.

He has responsibility for policing football matches and has performed the role of European Commander since 2005 working with Manchester United and Manchester City.

John also has responsibility for security around political party conferences.

In his early career John was the youngest police diver in the country. He also led the high-profile multi-agency response to the Boxing Day floods in 2015.

He said: It is really humbling and I can only justify the nomination by accepting the award on behalf of the fantastic police officers, police staff, key partners and community activists who have supported me over the last 30 years.

A long-serving care home worker has been recognised for services to the disabled in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Daniel Savage, 58, has worked at Brookvale Care Home in Prestwich, Bury, for 20 years and been the chairman there for a decade.

He said he was delighted to receive the British Empire Medal for Services to Disabled People.

My role is to ensure the buildings and are members are being looked after, he said.

The award has been a surprise and in my mind a token of thanks for both the management teams I work with, who have allowed me to serve the community.

The 58-year-old, who works for a computer hardware supplier, is also president of Manchester Reform Synagogue on Jacksons Row in Manchester.

Mr Savage works with 500 Jewish families over Greater Manchester, keeping people together and ensuring elderly members have access to social events.

He said he has recently been working on Gary Nevilles development project which will see the Jacksons Row building demolished for development: Ive spent over ten years working on that project.

Hopefully we would like to think we will break ground next year. This will give the synagogue a new lease of life. It will continue to be the only synagogue in Manchester.

This work over the last 20 years is something Ive been able to give my time to and is something I enjoy, he said.

A superhead who has helped turn around a number of struggling Greater Manchester primary schools has been recognised for services to education.

Simon Bramwell, headteacher of 25 years and leader of 10 primary schools in Manchester, Salford and Bolton, is awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Mr Bramwell, chief executive of SS Simon and Jude Academy Trust in Great Lever, is credited with helping a number of schools in difficulties quickly improve.

The 57-year-old said: Im really grateful to have been nominated for this honour.

I hope it is seen as a reflection of the dedication and commitment of the large team of dedicated professionals who have helped to improve life chances for young people across the region.

It is an absolute privilege to have done, and continue to do, the job I love. To receive recognition in this way is hugely rewarding and affirming both to myself and other colleagues who work with the same purpose.

I could not have done the work I have without the support and understanding of my family and I know that they too are, as I am, very proud to accept this award.

The policeman killed after confronting the Westminster attacker outside Parliament, Julie Walters and David Walliams are among those honoured by the Queen.

Her Birthday Honours list is described as the most diverse yet, with names ranging from Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland, turning 101 next month the oldest woman to become a dame, to Ed Sheeran and Judy Murray.

Meanwhile comedian Billy Connolly was given a knighthood and Julie Walters made a Dame.

Yorkshire-born founder of Iceland supermarket Malcolm Walker is knighted for services to retailing, entrepreneurship and charity, while brothers Brian and Alan Stannah, of family-run stairlift company Stannah Lifts, are given MBEs for services to British manufacturing.

In a break with tradition, the Queens Civilian Gallantry List has been released at the same time as the monarchs birthday honours.

PC Keith Palmer, who was sadly stabbed to death by attacker Khalid Masood in March on the forecourt of the Palace of Westminister, is to be posthumously awarded the George Medal for confronting an armed terrorist to protect others and Parliament.

Briton Dominic Troulan, an ex-soldier who was working as a civilian in Kenya when terrorists attacked a shopping mall in 2013, is awarded the George Cross for saving lives during the massacre.

Bernard Kenny, who was stabbed in the abdomen as he tried to stop neo-Nazi Thomas Mair attacking Mrs Cox outside her constituency surgery in Yorkshire, receives the George Medal one year on from the murder.

Two West Yorkshire Police officers, Pc Craig Nicholls and Pc Jonathan Wright, who arrested Mair are awarded the Queens Gallantry Medal.

There are a total of 1,109 people on the Queens Birthday Honours list, of whom 438 are awarded an MBE, 221 an OBE and 303 a BEM.

ORDER OF THE BATH

COMPANION - CB

Janice Lindsay Hartley, from Bowdon. Implementation and Delivery director, Universal Credit, Department for Work and Pensions. For services to the Development of Universal Credit.

ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

CBE

Sally Kaye Cheshire, Stockport. Chair, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Chair, Health Education England (North). For services to the NHS and Infertility Patients.

OBE

MBE

BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL - BEM

QUEENS POLICE MEDAL - QPM

Excerpt from:
Greater Manchester community champions celebrated in Queen's Birthday Honours - Manchester Evening News