New Year’s Honours in Cambridgeshire - Goalball pioneer, businessman and former Posh star awarded gongs

Richard Anthony Lee, Chief People Officer with construction company Willmott Dixon has been awarded an OBE for services to business and equality.

Mr Lee is married with three children and lives in Longthorpe, Peterborough, and is also a member of the Women’s Business Council

He is passionate about equality and diversity – and heads up Willmott Dixon’s Centre for Leadership Excellence.

He started his career at Shell, working in the Middle East, followed by roles at QA plc and the University of Nottingham.

Emma Evans (45) from March has been awarded the MBE for services to Goalball and to athletes with visual impairments.

She has a long history within goalball including coaching, playing, and refereeing and she first got involved when her partially sighted sons started playing, one of whom plays for Great Britain.

Since then, she has supported fundraising initiatives for Goalball UK by writing bids to various trusts and grant schemes securing around £80,000 in funding during the last couple of years.

In Cambridgeshire, she manages a successful goalball club, Fen Tigers which draws players from the Peterborough and Fenland area and enters teams at all three levels of the game. Her leadership guided Fen Tigers to international success at the Malmö Open European Goalball tournament as the club took home the gold medal in early 2019, the first British team to win.

She has actively promoted goalball’s cause within the workplace as a member of the Civil Service Visual Network, developing partnerships with Goalball UK and the charity for Civil Servants.

She told the Peterborough Telegraph: “I’m absolutely delighted. It was a real shock when it came through and I wasn’t sure it was real at first.
“It is a complete and utter honour. I am lucky that in the Goalball community there are so many amazing people and this award is not just for me it is for the entire Goalball community.
“It is a real privilege to be part of and I hope this award encourages more people to come and play.”
Emma said the costs associated with Goalball are high, with goals costing up to £4,000, and other equipment and room hire adding to costs. She also hoped the award would encourage business to donate or sponsor teams.
“It is expensive when you take into account the cost of equipment and venue hire,” she added “Hopefully this will encourage people to come forward and support us financially as well.”
For more details about the Fen Tigers email [email protected] or visit them on Facebook. 
Former Posh player Curtis Woodhouse was awarded the BEM for services to football.
He started his career at Sheffield United and made his debut aged 17, joined Birmingham and played in the Premier League for them. He signed for Posh in October 2003 on a free transfer from Birmingham City.
He played a big part in Posh avoiding relegation from the third tier in 2003-04 and played 72 times, scored 11 goals, before leaving in May 2005 for £25k to Hull. He went on to play for Grimsby, Rushden and Mansfield.
He managed just short of 400 senior appearances in total and won the British and Commonwealth boxing titles after his pro football career. Mr Woodhouse now runs a Boxing Academy and manages Gainsborough Trinity FC.

Nichola Suzanne Scott-Howlin (39) from Wisbech has been awarded the BEM for services to charity.

She is the founder of Scotty’s Little Soldiers which she set up to support bereaved forces children and provide fun activities and support for them after her husband, and father to her two children, Corporal Lee Scott, died in Afghanistan in 2009.

Through her leadership, the charity reaches more than 450 children of Army, Navy and RAF personnel with its ‘Smiles, Support’, ‘Strides’ and ‘Springboard’ Programmes, including fun activities, counselling and personal development grants. The charity was selected by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to receive donations in lieu of wedding gifts in 2018.

Other Cambridgeshire people given awards in the New Year’s Honours list were:

- Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire:

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen. Professor of Autism Research, University of Cambridge. For services to People with Autism. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

Professor Usha Claire Goswami FBA. Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, University of Cambridge. For services to Educational Research. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Dr Nicholas Keith Coni. Co-founder, University of the Third Age, Cambridge. For services to Education for Older People. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Dr Sally Ann Forsyth. Chief Executive Officer, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst. For services to Business and to Science. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Professor Valerie Gibson. Professor of High Energy Physics, University of Cambridge. For services to Science, Women in Science and to Public Engagement. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Dr Roger Michael Owen Hall. Medical Director, Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. For services to the NHS and the Covid-19 Response in the East of England. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Richard Anthony Lee. Chief People Officer, Willmott Dixon. For services to Business and Equality. (Longthorpe, Cambridgeshire)

Isobel Sheldon. Director, Business Development, UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. For services to Motor Vehicle Battery Technology. (Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire)

- Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Norah Al-Ani. Director, Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre. For services to Social Justice and to Gender Equality. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Dr Alastair James Burn. Principal Specialist, Water and Pollution. For voluntary service to Nature Conservation in Cambridgeshire. (Ely, Cambridgeshire)

Sylvia May Cundell. Senior Crown Prosecutor, East of England, Crown Prosecution Service. For services to Law and Order. (Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire)

Emma Samantha Evans. For services to Goalball and to Athletes with Visual Impairments. (March, Cambridgeshire)

Anna Louise Hallas. National Domestic Manager, Compass Group. For services to the NHS. (March, Cambridgeshire)

Judith Martha Tsitsi Machiwenyika. Nurse Consultant, Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. For services to Nursing and to BAME Equality, particularly during the Covid-19 Response. (Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire)

- Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM)

Janet Christine Bays. For services to the community in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. (Wisbech, Cambridgeshire)

Andrew Thomas Bendon. Emergency Response Volunteer, British Red Cross. For voluntary service in Cambridgeshire during the Covid-19 Response. (Willingham, Cambridgeshire)

Dr Pamela Mary Fisher. For voluntary service to the community in Cambridgeshire. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Dr Tamsin Mary Holland Brown. Community Paediatrician, Cambridge Community Services NHS Trust. For services to the NHS during Covid-19. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

David John King. Specialist Paramedic, East of England Ambulance Service. For services to the NHS and to Fundraising. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Gabriella Isabel Pimentel. Musculoskeletal Clinical Specialist, Warrior Sports Rehabilitation. For services to the Elderley during Covid-19. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Valerie Elizabeth Ware. For services to the community in Tydd St Giles, Cambridgeshire. (Wisbech, Cambridgeshire)

Dr Michael Paul Weekes. Infectious Diseases Clinician, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. For services to the NHS during Covid-19. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

- Queen’s Fire Service Medal (QFSM)

Christopher John Strickland. Chief Fire Officer, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service. (Cambridgeshire)