JAN Souness, former managing director of Warrington’s LiveWire and Culture Warrington, has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours list.
A former senior officer with Warrington Borough Council, she has worked in the town for more than 12 years. She retired from LiveWire and Culture Warrington earlier in the year.
Since 2012, LiveWire has been responsible for leisure, libraries and lifestyle activities across the borough while Culture Warrington has run arts and heritage activities.
Ms Souness, who transferred to the two organisations when they took over services formerly run by the borough council, had previously held senior positions with a number of local authorities after starting her local government career in her native Liverpool.
Another British Empire Medal was awarded to a resident of the Warrington area. Kathleen Elizabeth Hanley received her award for services to the community in Antrobus.
Tom McKenna, chairman of Crewe United Football Club, in Northern Ireland, who also receives the BEM, also has links to Warrington. He helped organise the annual Peace Cup competition between Warrington Town and Crewe United, which was set up after the Warrington bombings.
Also honoured in the New Year’s Honours list is Kevin Jones, from Warrington, who receives the MBE for voluntary services in the North West of England.
3 Comments
A report in today’s Daily Telegraph states: “Civil servants behind some of the year’s biggest controversies have been “rewarded for failure” in the Queen’s New Year honours….” Why are civil servants and politicians, for that matter, who are doing the jobs (notwithstanding the failures) for which they are already more than handsomely rewarded with ‘honours’? It demeans the honours system, which we are forever being told will be overhauled. Moreover, those who really have gone well beyond the extra mile and genuinely deserve honours recognition generally end up with the lowest category of honour.
Well said and I completely agree….
Well Said, I completely agree, she was doing a job, not even a dangerous one at that, there are many many individuals who on a daily basis risk their lives to help others: RNLI , Mountain Rescue, Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, Police, Fire then there are the others who actually do good in society, the ‘little people’ who very few take time to notice, the Hospital Cleaners, the hospital porteers, street cleaners, all of these and I know I am missing a lot of the list are more deserving of JS, at best all she deserves is an accolade from the Phantom Raspberry Blower as do most of them..