King's Birthday Honours for Shropshire maternity campaigners

Colin and Kayleigh Griffiths (left) and Rhiannon Davies and Richard Stanton (right) had fought for years for a full inquiry into maternity failings in Shropshire

Four people who successfully campaigned for a review of maternity services in Shropshire will be appointed MBEs in the King's Birthday Honours.

Couples Rhiannon Davies and Richard Stanton, along with Colin and Kayleigh Griffiths, lost daughters within hours of them being born.

Their complaints led to the major Ockenden report on safety and standards.

It found widespread failures at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.

All four of the bereaved parents were recognised for their services to maternity healthcare and Mr Griffiths said it was "a surreal experience".

But he added the big achievement, and for that of friends Mr Stanton and Ms Davies, was their getting maternity services scrutinised and overhauled as a result.

Sally Johnson said she started out looking to raise just £5,000

Elsewhere in the count, Sally Johnson, from Shrewsbury, will receive a British Empire Medal for charitable services to people with cancer.

She set up the Harry Johnson Trust - in memory of her son who died in 2014 - to support young people and their families at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford following cancer diagnoses.

It has since raised more than £600,000 and organised gifts and activities to lift family's spirits.

Mrs Johnson said she was "just flabbergasted" at news of the honour, which was broken to her by a text message from her husband.

But she said the true reward was seeing the difference her charity made to families, having been through the same experience herself.

"It's a privilege for families to let you into their lives for a bit, when you're offering them support," she added.

Jane Barker said she loved her work with Perry Riding for the Disabled

Jane Barker from Shrewsbury will be appointed an MBE for services to charity and to people with disabilities.

She set up Perry Riding for the Disabled in 1995 and has helped hundreds of children and adults to ride or drive carriages.

She said: "I've always loved horses and when I was abroad working I saw people working with horses and disabled children and I thought 'this looks like a good thing to do'."

Getting the news of her honour was a "great surprise" she said, adding: "My husband had to calm me down."

She said she felt it was a reward for the patience of her family too, but she explained such achievement had never been a motivation and while it was a great honour to be a recipient, she did not plan to use the letters MBE next to her name.

Other honours recipients from Shropshire include:

CBE

• Edward Harley OBE from Bucknell, Chair of the Acceptance in Lieu Panel, for services to heritage, charity and the community.

OBE

• Alan Meyrick from Shrewsbury, for services to education at the Teaching Regulation Agency.

• Dr Norma Raynes from Whitchurch for services to tackling loneliness in older people while at Generation 2 Generation and the Caldecott Festival Group.

MBE

• Sonya Jones from Oswestry, for tackling child exploitation

• Heather Kidd from Montgomery, for service to rural communities while at Shropshire Council.

• Roy Martin from Newport for services to heritage through the RAF Museum and the Aerospace Museum Society.

• Colin Preston from Oswestry for services to wildlife conservation at the Shropshire Wildlife Trust.

• Sonia Roberts from Shrewsbury, for services to the community.

• Helen Rooker from Ludlow for services to the arts and the community via Ludlow Assembly Rooms.

BEM

• Gwynne Goodfield from Telford for services to graduate recruitment and sport via HM Revenue and Customs.

• Marion Micklewright, from Shrewsbury, for services to feline welfare as the founder and manager of Shropshire Cat Rescue.

• Jonathan Sanderson from Telford for services to athletics and the community.

• Eric Smith from Shrewsbury, for services to radio and to the community.