Several stalwarts of public and community service are recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List, among them a Jewish adviser to a Muslim charity and a Jewish charity chairman who stepped down from the role only this year in his 90s.
One synagogue, New North London, has particular cause to celebrate with members receiving a damehood and a brace of OBEs.
One of the country’s best-known celebrities, the actor, writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry is knighted for his services to mental health and the environment as president of Mind and vice-president of Fauna and Flora International.
Fry, who has spoken publicly of his experience of bipolar disorder, devoted his TV Alternative Christmas Message last year to speaking out against rising antisemitism in the wake of October 7. “Jews should stand upright and proud in who they are,” he said.
He has recently appeared in the film Treasure as a Jewish father who accompanies his daughter (played by Lena Denham) on a road-trip to Poland.
Also knighted is Boston-born Loyd Grossman, the son of a Jewish antiques dealer, for his services to heritage as chairman of the Royal Parks. The recipient previously of an OBE and CBE, he has had a multi-stringed career, which has included presenting TV shows Masterchef and Through the Keyhole and founding a brand of food sauces; in his 50s he gained a doctorate in history of art from Cambridge.
Tamara Finkelstein (photo: Norwood)
Senior civil servant Tamara Finklestein, permanent secretary at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is made Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath. Her career has spanned six government departments, including 20 years as an economics and policy adviser in the Treasury. She is also Cabinet Office Champion of the Civil Service Delivery for Citizens Awards.
A former co-chair of NNLS, vice-chair of Norwood and a senior sponsor of the Jewish Civil Service Network, she is the sister of Lord Finkelstein.
Fellow congregants who have been made OBE are Nicola Solomon who recently retired as chief executive of the Society of Authors, for services to literature and lawyer Ian Karet, who was previously interim chair of the Charity Commission. Solomon’s husband, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, received the honour last year.
Stephanie Amiel, emeritus professor of diabetes research at King’s College, London and consultant physician to the Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, who is a member of Bromley Reform Synagogue, is made a dame for services to those living with diabetes.
Dame Stephanie Amiel
Dame Stephanie said, “This honour has come as a complete surprise to me – of course I am delighted. So much of what I have been able to achieve has been in collaboration with amazing colleagues and this award honours them too.
“To receive the honour for services to people with diabetes is heartwarming and humbling. They are the true heroes in the diabetes story and if I have been able to make things a little better for some of them, that is an honour indeed.”
West London Synagogue member Jeremy Isaacs, who earned a CBE in 2015, is knighted for his philanthropic contributions. The former UJIA trustee is the honorary life chair of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice which, according to the government’s website, he “transformed it from a small, local charity into an admired and role-model organisation in children’s palliative care”.
Another senior civil servant, Michelle Dyson, director general of adult social care at the Department of Health and Social Care, is made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. She is daughter of the former Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson.
Professor Richard Susskind, who was recently technology adviser to the Lord Chief Justice and the previous recipient of an OBE, is made CBE; as is Hendon United Synagogue member Peter Sasieni, professor of cancer epidemiology and co-lead for the Centre for Cancer Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis at Queen Mary, University of London; and Glasgow-born Steve Morrison, former director of programmes at Granada TV and co-founder of the independent production company, all3media.
Gesher School founders Ali Durban and Sarah Sultman (Photo: Blaze Ezra)
Elizabeth Harris-Sawczenko’s interfaith work has brought her an OBE. She is an adviser to a Muslim charity, Forum for Peace UK, a branch of an initiative founded in Abu Dhabi, and to the Good Faith Partnership. Formerly public affairs director of the Board of Deputies and director of the Council of Christians and Jews, she is also cited for her more recent contribution as adviser to the Board.
She commented, “Working with other faith communities and their leaders is a privilege and a blessing. Each encounter is a source of hope and a reminder of our shared humanity. I am thankful to all colleagues and organisations that have placed their trust in me to do this work. I am immensely proud to accept this honour as a British Jew and a Jewish Israeli.”
New OBEs also include Estelle, Lady Wolfson — the widow of Lord Leonard Wolfson — for services to the arts and medical research: and Stephen Allan, who was head of media network, Mediacom, and chairs a charity supporting sick children, Ray of Sunshine.
Stephen Allan OBE with his wife Hayley Allan at the London Marathon (Credit: courtesy)
Michael Livingston, the deputy director of major sporting events and delivery at the Department for Culture Media and Sport, is one of a number of people honoured for contributions to Holocaust education and memorialisation. He receives an OBE, as does the director of the Wiener Library, Dr Toby Simpson and Professor Gillian Carr, professor of conflict archaeology and Holocaust research at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.
MBEs go to Holocaust survivor Dr Alfred Garwood, and recently retired Association of Jewish Trust trustees Eleanor Angel and Frank Harding.
Originally from Poland, Garwood, who is now 92, was just eight months old when he was transported with his parents and four-year-old sister to Bergen-Belsen in July 1943. Shortly before its liberation in April 1945, they were sent on a train east until they were finally rescued by Soviet troops. "We were virtually unique in being an entire nuclear family of Polish survivors," he has said.
Angel said she was “stunned and blown away” by her honour. “The AJR has been a big part of my life and I am so proud to have been involved in the support it has provided over many decades and of the life-changing help it continues to deliver to so many refugees and survivors.”
Liesel Carter from Leeds, a supporter of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association, is honoured with a British Empire Medal.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the honours in the sector highlighted the recipients’ “unwavering dedication to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and educating future generations.”
Lucien Gubbay, president and recent chairman of the Montefiore Endowment
At the age of 93, Lucien Gubbay, a prominent member of the S and P Sephardi Community, stepped down recently as chairman of the Montefiore Endowment, which reintroduced a rabbinic ordination course for central Orthodox communities in the UK. The author of a book on Jews in Islamic countries, Sunlight and Shadow, he said he accepted his MBE “on behalf of all at the Montefiore Endowment — which brought a new dimension to central Orthodoxy — those present as well as those no longer with us.”
His children Joanne and Jeremy Gubbay added, "It means a huge amount to us that Dad's dedication to community work has been recognised in his later years."
Mike Katz, the chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, who only this month was nominated for the House of Lords this month, is now appointed MBE for his political and public service.
Other new MBEs include the chair of Chai Cancer Care, Louise Hager; Amanda Delew, northern regional director of the Community Security Trust; Harvey Rosenblatt, president of Nightingale Hammerson, which runs homes for the Jewish elderly; Ali Durban and Sarah Sultman, founder-trustees of the pioneering Gesher School for children with autism, ADHD and other special educational needs which is rated outstanding by Ofsted: and Leslie Lipert, for services to the most westerly Jewish community, Kehillat Kernow — Cornwall.
Chief executive of Magical Taxitours: Phil Davis
There is an MBE too for Chigwell and Hainault Synagogue member Phillip Davis, organiser and chief executive of Magical Taxitours, which has been taking thousands of children every year from Great Ormond Street and other hospitals to Paris Disney for more than 25 years.
Louise Hager
Hager said, “It is a huge privilege to be part of this very special organisation and I feel extremely honoured and humbled to have received an MBE. So much of what Chai has achieved over the years is due to the strongest of foundations that my dear mother Frances and Susan Shipman laid, and this award is very much dedicated to them both.
“When Chai was established it would not have been possible to imagine how much impact the organisation would have on the Jewish community and beyond, and how it would be recognised as a model of supportive care nationally and internationally. I know that my late mother, would be so proud of this accolade".
Delew said, “What an absolute privilege to have been recognised for the many years of hard work and dedication both for myself and the incredible organisation I have the honour to work for. This is especially the case given the level of antisemitism across the UK since October 7.
"The strength of CST, the incredible team in the north and the national organisation that works tirelessly to keep our community safe , make my otherwise stressful role, manageable.”
Amanda Delew
Julian Margolin, chief executive of the charity Kids in Mind, which supports children escaping domestic abuse, is also made MBE. The Radlett United Synagogue member said he was “honoured and humbled” by the recognition, which was “a testament to the support and encouragement of my family, friends and colleagues”.
Royal Free Hospital volunteer Evelyn Blumenthal receives a BEM.
