Queen’s Jubilee birthday honours: BEM for church service streamer

Mark Sanderson said he felt "lucky" to receive the British Empire Medal

A man who helped worshippers stay in touch with their local churches during the pandemic has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his services to the community.

Mark Sanderson, 60, from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, said it was a great honour and "quite humbling".

He arranged for services and other church gatherings to be shown online.

Mr Sanderson said: "I can't resist a challenge, I like doing different things."

During the pandemic, he created an online platform for people to access church services and other church events and used QR codes to allow people to download services and make prayer requests as well as for track and trace.

He said he was determined to provide a quality service. "It wasn't just going to be a phone on a stick," he said.

Like other areas of life, places of worship faced tough restrictions from early in the pandemic and many were ill equipped for a move purely online.

Mr Sanderson has been associated with St Mary's Parish Church in Ross-on-Wye for nearly 30 years

Mr Sanderson also worked to train the clergy to make use of the streaming technology available and said many elderly parishioners continued to use the online services even after lockdown restrictions were lifted.

He has been associated with St Mary's Parish Church in Ross-on-Wye for nearly 30 years, spending 26 as the church's director of music.

Before retiring, he worked in computing in schools and said he "had the kit around and some of the skills".

He said he felt lucky to have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours, saying there had been "lots of people working away quietly who also are also deserving".

Other honours recipients include:

Knighthood

• Nicholas Coleridge, from Worcester, chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum - for services to museums, publishing and the creative industries

CBE

• Sarah-Jane Nicholson, from Stourbridge, chief executive of Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust - for services to leadership in the NHS

OBE

• Moeen Ali, of Worcestershire County Cricket Club - for services to cricket

• Prudence Burch, co-founder of Breathworks, for services to wellbeing and pain management

MBE

• Hugo Spowers, founder of hydrogen-powered car firm Riversimple, for services to technology

BEM

• Betty Webb, a volunteer with British Heart Foundation - for charitable and voluntary services

• Christopher Jordan, from Trimpley, founder of the Emily Jordan Foundation - for services to people with learning disabilities