Arise Sir Local Hero…

UK Fundraising’s blog post on this year’s (2011) New Year Honours list highlighted the fact that three quarters of those to have received an honour this year are local heroes.  I don’t know about you, but I’m pleased to hear that.  I suspect though, that the majority of them were offered MBEs or CBEs rather than becoming Dame Such and Such or Sir Blah de Blah – both of which seem to be reserved for sportsmen and women or actors.

Personally, I think more honours should go to those who tirelessly and for no personal gain go out of there way to support their local communities or to raise the profile of a cause close to their hearts.  Year after year, we hear how someone is being awarded for services to sport, theatre or film – which is largely them being awarded for doing their job, isn’t it? 

I don’t want to sound churlish – and I’m not disputing that there are some fine actors and sportsmen and women out there – but presumably, they want to be top of their game anyway, so it’s not been an entirely selfless act to get there.  Not like running the local youth club in a run-down estate or providing support for local elderly people either as a volunteer or as an employee doing a job with very little pay and without much complaint or need for recognition.

So, personally, I say ‘well done local champions’.  Let’s see more of them being honoured in the future.