Two of the highest awards in the King’s Birthday Honours List have gone to British Jews with a lengthy record of public service.
Dame Jenny Abramsky, the former BBC director of radio, is elevated to the Knights Grand Cross Order of the British Empire, as is former Master of the Rolls Lord Etherton.
The veteran BBC arts and culture broadcaster Alan Yentob is appointed CBE, while the recent chief executive of Maccabi GB, Martin Berliner is made MBE.
The most poignant award is the posthumous MBE given to the late Martin Segal, who was executive director of the Israel Guide Dogs Centre UK when he died from cancer aged 58 in January. He was honoured for his services to cancer research and to patients with terminal illness.
He founded the charity Burp after he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and found there was little support for those suffering with it.
Author and film-maker Hannah Rothschild, chair of Yad Hanadiv, the Rothschild family’s charitable arm, is made a dame for her philanthropic work.
Abramsky, a former chair of the National Heritage Lottery Fund, is recognised for her contributions to the arts, media and culture that includes trusteeships with the Shakespeare Schools Festival and the Royal Academy of Music.
Etherton, a former senior warden of West London Synagogue, is honoured as chair of the LGBT Veterans Independent Review.
A knighthood goes to Robert Behrens CBE, the former Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Michael Norton OBE, the founder of the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action, receives a CBE for services to social entrepeneurship and philanthropy in the UK and abroad.
New OBE; Myrna Bernard of Glasgow
Among the new OBEs are Tanya Brier, chair of Cancer Research UK’s national events committee and ambassador of the Alzheimer’s Society; Laura Citron, ceo of London & Partners, which promotes the capital to international audiences; Georgia Gould, leader of Camden Council: Professor Mervyn Singer, professor of intensive care medicine at University College London and director of the Bloomsbury Institute of Care; and Michael Sternberg, president of the Faith and Belief Forum.
A member of Manchester’s Charedi community, Isaac Ginsbury, chief executive of the Jewel Foundation, which is dedicated to the relief of unemployment and financial hardship, is made MBE for services to Greater Manchester and to faith and integration.
Edwina Rosenberg from Bury is similarly honoured for services to young people in long term care, as is the deputy chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Rachel Century.
Martin Berliner wrote on Facebook that he was “overwhelmed… I was speechless on receiving the letter from the Cabinet Office.
“My first thought was of my late parents, I so wish I could share this moment with them and to thank them for all their love and support along the way.”
He said he was “delighted that the work Maccabi GB deliver every day to our community and beyond has been recognised in this way”.
Myrna Bernard, a social worker for the Association of Jewish Refugees in Glasgow, receives a BEM.
Michael Newman, AJR chief executive, said: “During her tenure with the AJR, Myrna was a devoted social worker and confidante and still remains a compassionate advocate for our members. She is a remarkable stalwart of our community and we are thrilled she has been recognised for services to the Jewish Community and to the Disabled in Scotland.”
Shamit Weinberger-Gaiger, a managing director for West Coast Partnership Development, has been awarded an OBE for services to the Rail Sector.
Hilton Ivan Freund, is the Chief Executive for the Twinning Project, a partnership between HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and professional football clubs with the objective of twinning every prison in England and Wales with a local professional football club. Freund is being award an MBE for services to Reducing Reoffending and to Charity.
Warren Ginsberg, the Chairman of HiB’s has been awarded an MBE for services to home improvements. This prestigious recognition celebrates Warren’s outstanding contributions to the bathroom industry and his unwavering commitment to the development of home improvements over the decade.
