Local heroes awarded in King's Honours - from man who nearly died to prom dress champion

Local heroes awarded in King's Honours - from man who nearly died to prom dress champion Keir Starmer praised people across the UK 'quietly changing lives and strengthening their communities' - as local heroes were honoured in the King’s Birthday Honours List Local heroes are among those honoured by the King for outstanding contributions across the country. Keir Starmer praised people across the UK "quietly changing lives and strengthening their communities". The PM said: "Their dedication shows how lasting change is built - through compassion, resilience and a commitment to others. It speaks to the decent, hopeful country we are proud to be, and on behalf of the whole nation, I want to say thank you." There are many recognisable names included in the King’s Birthday Honours List, from Lionesses, to Dame Helen Mirren to rugby hero Kevin Sinfield. But there are also hundreds of everyday heroes who are recognised for their dedication to helping others and improving their communities. The Mirror spoke to some of those who have received gongs in this year's list. 'I nearly died from sepsis - now I give back to the NHS' James Brown’s wife asked him if he was going to jail when she saw the letter from His Majesty’s service. But little did he know, she had actually nominated him for an honour for his charitable work at Lifesavers, a blood bike charity that provides vital life-saving medical supplies. James started volunteering for the charity during the pandemic after he himself contracted life-threatening Sepsis about nine years ago. He had been driving home when he blacked out, with the car luckily stopping on a grass verge. After seeing a nurse, he was sent to hospital - where he would stay for the next two and a half months. “It turns out that I'd a small perforation in my bowel, everything was leaking to my insides, and I was very close to end stage with Sepsis,” he said. “I came out of hospital a couple of months later with a colostomy bag, not the person I am today… “But I shouldn't have been here today, and that's purely down to those doctors and the domestics, the porters, volunteers that were in the hospital at the time, I very much doubt that the Lifesavers didn't have a hand in some of my samples or something going somewhere. To make somebody healthy you need a community, so when Covid hit, the charity asked for drivers, and I wasn't doing anything else, so I thought I can give a couple hours a week. Who knew a year and a half, two years later, I'd be deep in the trenches supporting them.” The 46-year-old dad has now received an MBE for services to Saving Lives Scotland and to the community in Airdrie. He helped to digitise the charity which has transformed its efficiency. "I am still now trying to get my head round - I've been given this amazing honour and amazing award," he said. 'I make sure disadvantaged young people can enjoy their prom' Alice Outten is looking forward to finally telling her friends why she disappeared from a music festival for 24 hours. The 31-year-old has received a BEM (British Empire Medal) after setting up an organisation that helps disadvantaged young people access prom dresses and suits. Alice, known as Ally, has been forced to keep the celebration of her success a secret due to the strict honours rules - so much so that she nipped out of a pre-planned music festival to speak to the press about her award. “I've been at a music festival, which I've got the wristband on, camping in the mud, and then I had to come to London, get ready, and I'm going straight back there afterwards, so I can finally tell my friends why I disappeared for 24 hours,” she said. “I had to carry this dress and shoes around for two days and try not to get it muddy. It’s a rock festival too so all my other outfits were not appropriate.” Ally, from north Wales, set up Prom Ally when she was a university student in Liverpool and heard a story about a young girl who couldn’t afford a dress to go to her school prom. “I just wondered if there was anything out there to help, because I had my prom dress in the wardrobe and all of my friends did too, so I decided to offer them up and see if we could get that going to help people in those circumstances,” she said. “I think it's really important to have a nice prom dress or prom suit, because even though it might be seen as a luxury and it's not as critical as food or heating and everything like that, why should certain students miss out on this really fun celebration at the end of school?” She’s now been running her social enterprise for 11 years and was awarded in the King’s Honours list for services to young people. “It feels amazing to be honoured,” she said. “I’m a bit overwhelmed today but it’s a really nice feeling to be recognised for the work I’ve been doing.” 'Hygiene poverty excludes people - we're fighting to end it' Friends Sali Hughes, 51, and Jo Jones, 49, were “horrified” when they discovered the levels of hygiene poverty across the country. The pair - who work in the beauty industry - had seen the “abundance” of products in the industry that are spare or go to waste. In 2018, they had an idea - capitalise on the generosity and abundance of the industry and give it to people who need it. Years later, they are both receiving MBEs for their services to alleviating hygiene poverty. Their charity Beauty Banks now provide hygiene products for more than 2,000 charities across the UK, including women’s refuges, mental health trusts, prison leavers associations, homeless shelters, schools. They give out things like shower gel, soap, toothpaste and period products - none of which the pair say should be a “luxury”. Sali said hygiene poverty can affect a person’s life in every aspect, from mental health to employment prospects: “I mean, it's so excluding from every aspect of life. If you don't look the same, smell the same, seem the same, that has a direct impact on your ability to find work, your ability to make friends, maintain friendships, have a social life, and all these things are vital to dignity.” They said they’re “thrilled” to be receiving their MBE and hope it raises the profile of hygiene poverty during a time where funding is “challenging” for charities. They also paid tribute to their colleagues, with Sali adding: “They keep the show on the road day to day while we’re out hustling for cash and product.” 'I don't want other families to feel alone like mine did' Michael Akers, 25, who was diagnosed with verbal dyspraxia, a rare neurological speech disorder, has been awarded an MBE for services to special educational needs. Despite describing himself as one of the “lucky” ones, who got an early diagnosis at the age of two, Michael said getting support was an “isolated and lonely” journey. He started raising awareness so other families know they’re not “alone” and began the journey to setting up Mikey’s Wish Foundation when he was just 16. “I've raised awareness of that through my social media and I started that because the journey that me and my mom went through with getting the diagnosis and getting the support were very isolated and lonely, so it was just to get out there that families weren't alone,” he told The Mirror. Michael - who was a Mirror Pride of Britain winner in 2018 - said secondary school, where he had to part with many of his primary school friends, was a struggle. He said: “It was the loneliness of it and the lack of understanding and awareness that sort of driven me to make Mikey’s Wish Foundation. And it wasn't until we did a poetry day at school where I wrote about how I felt, and then my mum saw it, and then we decided to like to get it out there and get people aware of apraxia.” Michael and his mum have told all his family and friends they’re hosting an afternoon tea party for a “special announcement”, where they’re going to celebrate his MBE as soon as they can let the secret out. 'Kevin Sinfield inspired me to fundraise doing unique challenges' Alexander Rigby said his mum will probably scream and cry when he tells her he has received a BEM for his fundraising for charity. The 34-year-old is a fundraising officer for Centre 56, a charity supporting kids affected by domestic violence, where he has thrown himself into unique challenges to raise as much cash as he can. The Liverpool-based charity takes youngsters on day trips in the summer and provides sacks of presents or Easter eggs during festive periods, as well as family therapy and coffee mornings for families. Alex was inspired by Rugby hero Kevin Sinfield - who himself gets a knighthood in the honours list for his fundraising efforts in memory of his late friend and teammate Rob Burrow. Alex - who has fundraised for Centre 56 for nearly three years - tackled his biggest challenge yet in February, running the whole 109-mile Merseyrail Northern Line in a day and raising £56,000. “It was 28 hours of toughness. It was a very cold end of February, it was. It was a dry day, which was great, but it was tough,” he said. “Kevin Sinfield had a big impact on me, raising money for MND, and I was thinking, what's a great way to raise awareness for the charity, and there's no better way than bringing people with you doing sort of an extreme and it gets people talking. And it creates a lot of publicity for the charity, gets the name out there.” Alex - who described himself as a a normal lad from Liverpool from a working-class background - said it was “crazy” he’d received an honour, adding: “It inspires me to want to do more.”