Knife crime campaigners 'emotional' over honours
BBCA wealth of people from across the North East have been recognised in the New Year Honours list.
They include Sunderland couple Tanya and Simon Brown, who were appointed MBEs for their work tackling knife crime.
They set up the Connor Brown Trust in 2020 after the fatal stabbing of their son aged 18 a year earlier.
Mrs Brown said: "We were just so overwhelmed, just reading the letter itself was an emotional experience for us - we couldn't believe what we were reading."
Connor was stabbed to death when he tried to defuse an argument.
His parents now deliver workshops in schools, and have raised money to place lifesaving equipment in the city.
They said they were surprised to be recognised in the list.
"Opening the letter, I think we had to read it about five times before it sunk in," Mr Brown said.
Betty Brown, who has campaigned against wrongful prosecutions by the Post Office, has also been appointed an OBE.
The 92-year-old from County Durham is the oldest surviving victim of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.
PA MediaShe said she was accepting the honour on behalf of all the victims.
"I never expected anything like this - I didn't do it for anything like this, I did it for justice," she said.
Middlesbrough playwright Ishy Din is being made an MBE for services to the arts and young people.
His plays took inspiration from the people he would meet during his shifts as a Teesside taxi driver.
He said he hoped that the award would inspire other people across Teesside to pursue their creative interests.
"Hopefully it will demonstrate that you can build a career if you have that resilience and keep working on it, people will recognise your efforts," he said.
He added the news came as a "shock" and he was blown away by it.
"It was something I never expected, not in my wildest dreams."
Services to music were rewarded with an MBE for Allison McKay, chief executive of Darlington's Forum Music Centre.
She secured the future of the Borough Road venue by selling community shares in it and riding out the storms of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
She said she was shocked and humbled to be recognised.
"It took a little while to sink in, really - it's amazing," she said.
"It's really wonderful, to me it's recognition for the Forum Music Studio and everyone behind it."
Campaigner Gill Castle, from Alnwick, received a BEM for services for people living with stomas.
In 2023, she became the first person fitted with a stoma to swim across the English Channel.
Earlier this year she climbed Kilimanjaro to raise money for her charity, Chameleon Buddies, which helps women in Kenya who have stomas.
John Hearn, known as Jack, from Cramlington also received a BEM for services to judo and North East community.
The World War Two veteran was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest Judo teacher in the world.
He is the oldest person honoured this year, aged 102.
