MBEs have been awarded in the King’s first New Year’s Honours List to people in the Warrington area for services to education, services to older people and services to the wider community.
Retired nursery boss Margaret King from Lymm, Martin Jones, the CEO of Warrington-based Home Instead and former Lymm Parish Council Chairman Geoff Hawley, have all received MBEs.
Margaret has been involved in education and community service since entering the teaching profession in 1970. Margaret created the first Modern Educational Dance GCSE Curriculum in the UK in 1972. After moving to Lymm in the mid-80s Margaret set up Lymm Dance in 1987 and also assisted in local primary school musicals as a volunteer.
In 1991 she set up The Rosebank Centre, which had previously been a children’s home on Pepper Street, as a nursery school with dance, movement and outdoor play as key elements in child development. This was expanded with a breakfast and after-school club for primary school children. This was followed in 2004 when she set up The Lakes Centre nursery in Orford to bring her skills and ethos to a wider group of children. This was a joint initiative with Warrington Borough Council and was one of the first National Neighbourhood Nurseries in the country with a focus on community support for parents and children. And in 2008 the nursery in Lymm was expanded further with a purpose-built “Naturegarten” nursery within the grounds of Ravenbank Community Primary School. The Scandinavian log-cabin was one of the first “forest schools” in the country and was based upon extensive use of outdoors and children learning in the natural environment. It enabled The Rosebank Centre to focus on childcare forbabies and children up to 4 years old who then moved to Naturegarten for children between 4 and 10 years of age.
Throughout this time Margaret worked with Warrington Borough Council to provide excellence in the care, development and education of thousands of children in Lymm and Warrington. She was also active in other areas including Warrington Early Years Partnership, Warrington Independent Nursery Network, a governor at Sandy Lane Nursery and a Voluntary Councillor for Childline Manchester.
In 2018, Margaret set up “Crafty Crafters of Lymm” co-ordinating a group of volunteers who would sew drain bags and under-arm cushions for patients undergoing mastectomy surgery at Warrington and Halton hospitals. Her group of Crafty Crafters have provided over a thousand such items, all custom-made in interesting fabric designs that patients can select from rather than use the standard plain NHS products.
Margaret said: “I am delighted to receive this honour. It was totally unexpected. Over the years I have simply done what I thought was the right thing to do and have been helped by so many staff and colleagues along the way.“
Her husband Rod, who received an MBE in 2013 for Services to Road Safety.
The CEO of Warrington-based home care franchise business, Home Instead, Martin Jones, has been awarded an MBE for services to older people.
During his time working in the care sector, Martin has been a keen advocate of home care and its role within the health and social care ecosystem which allows older people to lead independent lives in their own homes. He has also championed the role of care workers, helping to attract more people to consider a career in care.
Martin has taken on a number of non-exec and Trustee roles which have enabled him to build strong links to the Department of Health and Social Security, Skills for Care and the International Longevity Centre, to name but a few.
He is currently Chair of the Homecare Association; Chair of The Care Workers’ Charity; member of the Age UK Board. He is also Chair of Home Instead Charities UK, part of Home Instead’s charitable endeavours.
Martin joined Home Instead as Chief Operating Officer in 2011 when the company had 60 franchise offices. He went on to be Managing Director and then CEO of the UK business – overseeing the company’s 245 franchise offices, and delivering care to over 16,000 clients.
Martin’s remit has recently been increased to include responsibility for Home Instead’s international division, supporting international franchise partners and their teams to further cement Home Instead as a global leader in home care.
Speaking about the award, Martin said, “I am proud and humbled to receive this award, particularly as it is for services to older people.
“Home Instead’s mission is to expand the world’s capacity to care – we want to make the world a better place to age in. For this to become reality, companies like Home Instead, the government and broader society need to ensure that there is the infrastructure, resource and, importantly, people in place.
“The integration of health and social care is critical, as is a mindset where old age is celebrated and revered.”
Meanwhile, retired Lymm dentist Geoff Hawley from Lymm was formerly the chairman of Lymm Parish Council, and has been recognised for services to the wider community of Cheshire.
A Deputy Lord lieutenant, he was deputy chairman of the parish council in 2018/19, where he was also as chairman of the Allotments Committee, before being elected as chairman of the parish council in 2019, serving until 2021.
