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Dave Ryan |
Postman set to be a Royal male
Delivery man, glassblower and author are named in New Year Honours list
A CAMPAIGNING architect, a Turkish Islington Lib Dem councillor, a Royal Mail postman who also teaches boxing, and a traditional glassblower, are among the borough’s winners of New Year Honours, which were announced this week.
Author and retired Islington architect Harley Sherlock, a vociferous campaigner against tower blocks, wins an MBE; one of Britain’s first Turkish councillors, Meral Ece gets an OBE; Dave Ryan, 53, a postman based at the N1 Delivery Office gets an MBE; and Clerkenwell Green glassblower Katherine Coleman, receives an MBE.
Mr Sherlock, a founder member of the Islington Society, was delighted. “It’s recognition of the work I’ve done over the years,” he said.
A former chairman of the Royal Institute of British Architects (London region), Mr Sherlock criticised Islington Council for “giving in to developers,” over the 35-storey tower block planned for City Road basin at the Regent’s Canal.
Cllr Ece was elected for Mildmay Ward in 2002, serving as executive member for health and social services from 2002-06, and currently serves as chairwoman of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny panel.
She said: “The letter telling me I’d been awarded an OBE came totally out of the blue. It was a complete surprise.
“Local government plays such an important role in people’s lives, and I am honoured to have served the people of Islington, where I was born and where my family settled over 50 years ago.”
Cllr Ece was appointed by Harriet Harman MP, Minister for Women and Equalities, to serve on the Cross-Party Government Equalities Task Force, which aims to increase the number of women councillors from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
Postman Dave “Scrap Iron” Ryan is also head coach of the Times Amateur Boxing Club, which he helped found almost 40 years ago.
Mr Ryan aims to give inner-city youngsters a sense of purpose, self-discipline and achievement.
He spends three nights a week at training sessions and at weekends takes youngsters to boxing matches.
The club has 300 members and is central to the community, running football teams and even dance classes for older people.
Last year Mr Ryan was one of three finalists for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero category and the club has received other awards in the recent past, including the Gold Award from the Federation of Boys Clubs, an Islington Community Award from the Mayor of Islington, and a Working in the Community award from the Mayor of London.
Katherine Coleman, a freelance glassblower and designer, receives her award for teaching traditional styles at Morley College, Lambeth from 1984-7 and continuing to explore these techniques at her workshop in Clerkenwell.
“My work is inspired by natural history and the modern urban landscape,” she said. “I’m very grateful for this award.”
Ms Coleman is a member of Contemporary Applied Arts, an elected Fellow of the Guild of Glass Engravers, Chairwoman of the Guild of Glass Engravers 2002-05, and an elected Member of the Art Workers Guild.
Other Islington award winners include: former Housing Corporation chairman Peter John Bellett Dixon, knighted for services to housing; Yvonne Miller, OBE, Islington Primary Care Trust, for services to child psychology; Dr Marie Stewart, OBE, for services to education and equal opportunities; and Fergus Early, OBE, for services to dance. |
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