An Editor Honoured.

Today the Queens birthday hounours were announced. Usually I don't take much notice of the honours system for reasons far to long winded and dogmatic to go into here, but today was different. The reason? Well one of my best mates has received a gong.

The Editor at Lady Bracknell's marvellous blog has been honoured . That means that from now on she should be referred to as The Editor MBE!!!

This richly deserved honour came about because of The Editor MBE's other job. She works for a large public sector organisation and she chaired that organisation's staff Disability Network from 1998, until it's untimely demise last year. In that time, although officially she should have been working for 50% of her time on this task, she put in a great deal more time than that outside work. Her commitment to the job was outstanding and many, many disabled people within that organisation owe a great debt to The Editor MBE (okay I'll stop using it now!!), myself included.

Disabled people within that particular organisation would be in a far worse place if it hadn't been for The Editor. She had a great deal to do with both shaping policy and had a great input into how the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was implimented. She also has done an awful lot of work outside the organisation too, for local universities, as a mentor for disabled people.

I did have a small hand in The Editor MBE (okay I lied) being awarded this honour. It was her direct management chain that came up with the fabulous idea of getting recognition for The Editor for her contribution to disabled people. They contacted both me and Auntie Jan for some input into the nomination. I wrote the first draft and gave details of The Editors great age etc and Auntie Jan corrected my appalling grammar and spelling and added extra information.

I thought that nothing had happened at all until I received a text message of some ambiguity recently from The Editor. This lead me to believe that something was afoot in the Kingdom of The Editor. Since then I have been sworn to secrecy until that is today!! It is official! The Editor is indeed a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

The Editor received a very formal letter from 10 Downing Street nearly five weeks ago telling her that the:

"Prime Minister ... has it in mind, on the occasion of the forthcoming list of Birthday Honours, to submit your name to the Queen with a recommendation that Her Majesty may be graciously pleased to approve that you be appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire".

The rest, as they say, is history. May I be one of the first people to say congratulations to The Editor (publically at least, seeing as I sent her a text at one second past mid-night this morning). This is a very, very richly deserved award. I know that Lady Bracknell will be a bit put out because her title, esteemed as it is, is handed down through her family and she hasn't really done anything to deserve it. Maybe The Editor can get a raise in wages from the paltry five shillings and hour and as many cucumber sandwiches that she can eat now she is so honoured.

Once again, very well down mate. Can't think of anyone who deserves it more.