New Year Honours 2021: Staffordshire Gurkha campaigner appointed MBE

Rob Cross has helped raise more than £109,000 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust

A retired major appointed MBE in the New Year's Honours for his services to Gurkha veterans says he is sharing the honour with his late wife.

Major Rob Cross served with the Queen's Gurkha Royal Engineers in Nepal and along with Margaret "fell in love with the country and the people".

The 78-year-old from Rugeley, Staffordshire, has also been chairman of the North Midlands branch of the Gurkha Welfare Trust since 1998.

"I see this as a joint award," he said.

More than 200,000 Gurkhas served during the two world wars, according to the National Army Museum.

Rob and Margaret Cross spoke with the Princess Royal at the opening of a Motor Neurone Disease care and research centre in 2019

The engineer, who served for 40 years, said he joined the army "as a boy soldier and left as an officer".

"When the time came for me to leave the army in 1997 we were able to start supporting the Gurkha Welfare Trust by fundraising - which we did a lot of," he said.

"A lot of the work was done by Margaret. She used to give talks to anyone who would pay her and sometimes she was out twice a week giving talks." Together they raised more than £109,000 for the trust.

The couple returned to Nepal meeting Gurkha pensioners and seeing community aid projects funded by the trust.

Some of the "most important" projects were about providing fresh water, he said.

"They generally mean that girls get to go to school instead of fetching and carrying water."

The retired engineer continues to organise regular commemorative services on behalf of the Gurkha Brigade Association

His wife died of Motor Neurone Disease in August and Mr Cross said he would have to pick up where she left off.

He oversaw the design and construction of a memorial to Gurkha soldiers killed while serving in the British Army.

It was formally opened at the National Memorial Arboretum by The Princess Royal in 2014.

Reflecting on the importance of his fundraising, he said it was "payback for the loyalty these lovely people have shown to our country".

"It's only when you see them in their own environment you see how poorly off they are and how well off we are by comparison."

Other honours recipients from Stoke and Staffordshire include:

• Susan Tipton, 67, from Tamworth, is appointed MBE for services to apprenticeships and charity after setting up a training provider which has supported over 5,000 learners

• Dr Richard Harling, the director of health at Staffordshire County Council, is appointed MBE for services to public health, particularly during the Covid-19 response