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Roundhouse saviour 'Sir' Torquil Norman, knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours List |
QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS
Knighthood for the man who saved Roundhouse
Attack on the ‘betrayal’ of young people consigned to dustheap
SAVIOUR of the Roundhouse Sir Torquil Norman has been knighted in the Queen’s birthday honours list.
Sir Torquil was honoured for services to disadvantaged young people. He said this week: “The way this country is at the moment for young people is disgraceful. My generation has pretty much betrayed them.
“I can’t understand the logic of consigning all the people who are no good at exams to the dustheap. What we’ve created is a fantastic problem in society.”
Sir Torquil stepped in to buy the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm in 1996 after reading in the New Journal that the crumbling former railway repair shed was about to be turned into a museum.
Alongside his vision of restoring a venue which in its 1970s heyday played host to Jimi Hendrix and the Doors, the retired Navy pilot and toy-making entrepreneur dreamt of giving thousands of young people the creative opportunities denied them at school.
As he prepares to step down as chairman of the Roundhouse Trust next week, Sir Torquil insisted his honour “should be divided into about 10 pieces” to reflect the efforts of colleagues at the trust over the last decade.
He said: “We do things young people are interested in and the result is that I meet young people with incredible character, who have done very well.”
Couple’s 40 years of fostering
JOHN and Maria Doneo, who have looked after hundreds of Camden children during their 40 years of fostering, have been recognised with MBEs.
The couple, who live in Borehamwood, have been foster carers for Camden Council since 1967.
Speaking from her home on Monday, Mrs Doneo, a retired nurse who spent a short time in care herself, said: “It was a shock to get the letter as we don’t think we are any different to all of the loyal and committed carers who also work for Camden.”
The couple, who have raised eight children of their own, say they stopped counting the number of children in their care after the 300th.
CBE for novelist
AWARD-winning author Rose Tremain, who divides her time between homes in Dartmouth Park and Norwich, has been made a CBE.
Once described as the “best historical novelist of her generation”, Ms Tremain, 63, won the Whitbread Novel Award in 1999 for Music and Silence. Her most recent novel, The Road Home, was published earlier this month.
Architect’s war on dullness
ARCHITECT and teacher Sir Peter Cook, who was knighted in the Queen’s birthday honours, describes his philosophy as a desire to “cheer up architecture”.
The former University College London professor, who lives in Compayne Gardens, West Hampstead, has London’s Olympic Stadium among his current projects. He said: “There are a lot of buildings that are just too sensible and dull as ditchwater. The English have a penchant for that.”
In 2004, he was shortlisted, along with Colin Fournier, for the prestigious Stirling Prize for the Kunsthaus Graz building in Austria.
Battle to beat epilepsy fears
Remarkable Sue Usiskin, 58, who was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 15, has received an MBE for helping other sufferers.
Ms Usiskin, who lives in Redington Road, Hampstead, was co-author of the first self-help book for epilepsy sufferers, Living with Epilepsy, and is the only epilepsy counsellor in the country.
“People feel ashamed about epilepsy and fear it will hamper them in their lives. So it is vital to help people,” she said.
Charity founder
WHEN Jane Jason’s father was diagnosed with dementia more than 20 years ago, she saw first-hand the impact on the people who cared for him.
Her experiences led her to set up a pioneering charity, For Dementia, based in Camden Town, to provide help and support for carers.
Ms Jason, 60, has now been rewarded with an OBE. She said: “I was greatly honoured, but I owe it very much to all the people who have contributed to the charity in varying degrees.”
Birthday salute to teacher
ROSEMARY Rice had two reasons to celebrate over the weekend: her 64th birthday on Sunday and an MBE.
The mother-of-two from St Alban’s Road in Highgate received her honour for services to education after chalking up 40 years as a teacher at Kentish Town Church of England Primary School.
Mrs Rice, who has worked under eight headteachers at the Islip Street school, said she was thrilled by the honour.
Her school was recently rated outstanding in its latest Ofsted report. “It’s such an amazing place to work, which is why I think I’ve never left,” she said. “Every head has added something positive to it. I love the mix of people and cultures. If I can help children to read and write, then that’s a real achievement.” |
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