Firefighter honoured by King for her work

Dr Cohen-Hatton was awarded the King's Fire Service Medal during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace

A woman who faced homelessness as a teenager has been honoured by the King for her work as a firefighter.

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, chief fire officer with West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, was awarded the King's Fire Service Medal during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

Dr Cohen-Hatton became homeless aged 15, and is now advising Prince William as part of his Homewards campaign to end homelessness in the UK.

Dr Cohen-Hatton said: "The fire service means a huge amount to me because I feel like, as firefighters, we're trusted by people to know what to do when they're having the worst day of their lives."

The 42-year-old hopes she can use her experience of homelessness to "change the narrative".

"Homelessness is a really complex issue and the answer to it needs to be equally as multifaceted," she said.

Dr Cohen-Hatton said homelessness was becoming a bigger problem.

"We're seeing more and more hidden homelessness as well - people staying on other people's sofas, people sleeping in their cars, not necessarily even registering themselves as experiencing homelessness - so it can be really difficult to understand the numbers," she said.

The medal is awarded for distinguished service or gallantry, and recognises Dr Cohen-Hatton's work at several key events including the Finsbury Park terror attack, the Westminster Bridge terror attack, and the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Dr Cohen-Hatton joined the fire service in South Wales and got a degree in behavioural neuroscience from Cardiff University.

Her first book, a memoir called Heat Of The Moment, was published in 2019, the year she was a guest on Desert Island Discs.