Influential people in Hammersmith & Fulham have seen their hard work recognised in the New Year Honours list.
Charity chief executive Louisa Mitchell, who works to support children and young people in H&F, has been made an MBE.
The award is for her work with West London Zone, which targets inequality and helps youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds find paths to success.
Launched in 2016, the charity’s aim is to level the playing field so that everyone has a chance of success. It calculates that by supporting 4,500 children at a tipping point of need, it can achieve savings to the public purse in later life of £80,000 per child.
The first pilot project of the charity was in White City, helping young people access more opportunities by working with headteachers and designing tailored two-year support packages for individual children.
“We take a ‘whole child’ approach,” she explained. “In west London, one in five children isn’t getting the support to thrive. We help them build the relationships, self-belief and skills that they need to get on track socially, emotionally and academically.
“It’s an honour to be awarded an MBE in recognition of the impact we are having as a charity and a partnership.”
Louisa’s background is in social policy, finance and charity leadership. The work of West London Zone came to the fore during the Covid pandemic, when intensive support for children and families helped counter the isolation that so many felt.
The charity is funded by a mix of grants, schools, trusts, businesses and individuals.
Louisa said that she felt deeply motivated by the recognition that the award has given to the charity and its work.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in West London Zone over the years,” she added. “I hope this is just the beginning, and we look forward to supporting many more children and their families, together with our partners, in future.”
Last year the charity was given the Social Value Social Innovation award for partnering with Bank of America.
A rheumatology specialist who trained at Hammersmith Hospital has been made a Dame in the New Year Honours.
Prof Carol Black, 84, spent six years in the borough beginning her lifelong study of bone, muscle and joint inflammation. She worked in the clinical research hospital in Du Cane Road, White City, from 1975 until 1981, when she became consultant rheumatologist at the nearby West Mid.
Dame Carol, who is also chair of the British Library and has featured in the BBC Power List, later became president of the Royal College of Physicians, blazing a trail for women in high positions in medicine.
She also led a major study into the way drugs can fuel violence – which was cited as the principal reason she has been made Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire.
“I just love medicine, and I suppose I became a workaholic,” she said, looking back on her days in White City.
“But then it never felt like work to me. It matters to me terribly that I try, and that I take risks.”
Artist and illustrator Charlie Mackesy, author of the international bestseller The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, has been made an OBE.
For the past few years, he has been up and down ladders in St Paul’s Church, Hammersmith, working on a vast commission; an imposing seven-metre high painted triptych in the church.
The central panel of the three at the back of the altar, beneath the church’s main stained glass windows, is a dramatic representation of the crucifixion, with Charlie now devoting his energies to completing the left panel to finish a work which has absorbed more of his time than any single project in a glittering artistic career.
“When I started the (crucifixion) painting, my dad was dying of cancer, and I was driving up and down the M1 to see him,” he said. “But when I wasn’t with him, I was here in Hammersmith, doing this, and I became acutely aware of suffering and pain.”
Chelsea Women’s captain Millie Bright now has OBE after her name. The England defender, who will be leading her club teammates against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on 21 January, thought at first that the letter confirming the honour was about a parking fine.
“It’s something you never, ever imagine. It’s a massive honour, for me and for my family as well. It’s something to be proud of; everyone in the family sacrificed so much to get me to where I am,” she said.
“I always want to be the best player, and change things on and off the pitch. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but I’m really proud.”
