Great Yarmouth's Centre 81 chief among those given New Year Honours

Diana Staines, chief executive of Centre 81 in Great Yarmouth, said she felt her MBE was an honour for the whole team

A woman who runs an activities and skills centre which helps 700 people with disabilities has said it "felt surreal" to be awarded an MBE.

Diana Staines, of Centre 81, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, has been recognised in the New Year Honours list.

The charity organises activities and days out but in the pandemic was quick to ensure it could still offer care. It is about to move to a bigger site.

Ms Staines said although the honour was in "my name, it's for the team".

The chief executive, 68, from Ormesby St Michael, has been appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to people with disabilities in Norfolk, particularly during Covid-19.

Ms Staines joined the charity in 2007 after relocating from south Essex.

She said her experiences as a teenager caring for her ill mother, then her elderly father and providing regular respite care for her nephew had given her an insight into both the needs of those being cared for and carers.

Ms Staines said before the pandemic its members would go sightseeing, sailing and visit the cinema as well as take part in activities like cooking and discos.

People at Centre 81 have been making festive chocolate truffles

"The members do the most ordinary things but because of their disabilities they're extraordinary," she said.

"The staff give them the support in the way they need that support - it is a whole team effort. I am very lucky."

She said between March and August 2020, Centre 81 made 3,000 phone calls to members and families to help ensure they did not feel alone during lockdowns.

At the end of that period, they also started phasing in visits where staff would see members in their gardens or take them out.

Ms Staines said 2022 would be a landmark year for the charity, which also has its own fleet of transport, as it moves from its base in Tar Works Road to a huge ex-warehouse.

She said the new £1.5m Morton Peto Road site will allow members to remain safe and socially distanced in group bubbles while they take part in different activities.

Other people in Norfolk to be chosen for the New Year Honours are:

• Vivienne Lennox, 58, of Cromer, who has been appointed MBE for her services to education and work as Suffield Park Infants' chair of governors

• Public relations agency owner Andrew Waddison, 41, of King's Lynn, has earned a BEM for his services to the King's Lynn community during Covid

• Restaurateur Tyrone Harold, 54, of Great Yarmouth, has been awarded a BEM for services to the community in Great Yarmouth during the pandemic