Eight honoured for 'unique' contribution to city

Among those nominated are members of The Real Thing band, pictured here in 1976-77

Eight people who have made unique contributions to Liverpool are to be bestowed with one of the city's highest honours.

Liverpool's Citizen of Honour, which complements the higher honour of Freedom of the City, will be presented to nominees who have helped "enrich the image" of the city and its citizens, the council said.

The nominees - including a university professor and rector - will be put forward for approval at a council meeting on 24 July.

Lord Mayor Richard Kemp said the group showed the "breadth of talent Liverpool fosters" and their impact on the wider world.

Reverend Canon Dr Crispin Pailing at the recent D-Day veterans parade

The nominees include Professor Ashton, who was honoured with a CBE in 2000, has held positions at the University of Liverpool School of Medicine and was also the regional director of Public Health for North West England for 13 years.

His achievements include setting up one of the world’s first syringe exchange programmes in Liverpool, founding the Liverpool Public Health Observatory and initiating the World Health Organisation’s Healthy Cities Project.

Chrissie Byrne, who passed away last year, was the chair and organiser of the Friends of Walton Hall Park where she led campaigns to protect the park from development and also supported other friends of parks groups.

Dr Crispin Pailing, MBE, was made Rector of Liverpool in 2014 at Liverpool Parish Church, having been ordained in 2003.

He resigned from his post earlier this year and held his last service in the city in June.

'Captured city life'

Photographer Leroy Cooper captured life in Liverpool for more than 40 years, in particular the Black community in L8, leaving an archive of over 250,000 images when he died in 2023.

His arrest and subsequent maltreatment by the police in 1981 when he was a student was part of an incident that led to the first Toxteth uprising.

He became known as a performance poet and DJ and exhibitions of his work were shown at the Unity Theatre and the Museum of Liverpool.

Also nominated were four members of the The Real Thing band, formed in Liverpool in 1972.

Known for hits including You To Me Are Everything, Can’t Get By Without You and Can You Feel the Force, the group remains the UK’s most successful Black group.

Chris Amoo and Dave Smith both still perform as The Real Thing, following the passing of their band mates Eddy Amoo and Ray Lake.