News Beat
Bolton shines in King’s New Year Honours 2026 list
The prestigious list celebrates the extraordinary achievements and dedication of individuals from all walks of life who have made a significant difference to communities and industries.
The New Year Honours, announced annually by His Majesty The King, acknowledges outstanding service in areas including sport, education, health, charity, culture and public service.
Recipients may be awarded knighthoods or damehoods, or appointed to one of the ranks of the Order of the British Empire, alongside gallantry and bravery awards.
Each honour reflects the nature and impact of an individual’s contribution, ranging from years of voluntary service, leadership in education or excellence on the national stage.
Bolton has been proudly represented among those whose hard work and commitment have earned national recognition.
The following individuals have been nominated from Bolton and across Greater Manchester.
Georgina Stafford – SLT Lead Practitioner at Rumworth School in Ladybridge
MBE for services to Education
Georgina Stafford, 35, has been recognised with the honour of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Education.
Salford-born Georgina has devoted her life to helping children and young adults with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Bolton and across Greater Manchester.
As SLT Lead Practitioner at Rumworth School, Georgina models excellent educational practice, sharing her skills and experience with other teachers.
Since moving into special education in 2015, Georgina has been passionate about changing perceptions of young people with SEND.
“Over the past 10 years, I’ve worked with stakeholders in the local authority to encourage them to send their trainee teachers to be trained in a specialist setting,” said Georgina.
Enhancing her passion for teaching and research, Georgina is currently completing a Doctorate in Education at the University of Greater Manchester.
Over the last five years, she has also worked with Sport Cheer England to create age-appropriate experiences for young people with SEND that their neurotypical peers would have access to.
Georgina worked tirelessly managing a voluntary staff team to raise over £50,000, enabling the Team England Special Abilities Unified POM team (made up of athletes with SEND and non-disabled athletes) to become back-to-back World Champions in 2024/25.
Five students from Rumworth School were part of the cheer squad based in Salford.
“I went as an athlete to the World Championships when I was younger,” said Georgina.
“I saw a space and opportunity for special athletes at the Championships and thought we should be taking them as a country, and we did it.”
Describing the moment she found out about the MBE recognition, Georgina said: “It was completely unexpected, and I burst into tears when I read the letter.
“I had to ask my husband, Sean, to read it to me because I was crying so much.”
Growing up, Georgina was from a single-parent household and was the first person in her family to access higher education.
“I would like people to know that you don’t have to come from a position of wealth to be nominated for such a prestigious honour,” said Georgina.
“I highly encourage people to nominate others within the community.
“I feel absolutely honoured, but I know there are lots of other people in the community doing really great things continuously, and they deserve recognition as well.”
Georgina thanked everyone who went out of their way to nominate her, as well as those who have supported her throughout both her personal and professional career.
Anthony Yates – Destination Manager at Hull City Council
OBE for services to Tourism
Anthony Yates, 53, been recognised with the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Tourism.
Former Walmsley C.E. Primary School and Turton High School pupil Anthony, from Bromley Cross, is a leading figure in the national tourism industry.
Having spent over 35 years developing local and regional visitor economies, Anthony began his career in 1988 at the North West Tourist Board, when it was based at the Last Drop Village in Bromley Cross.
From 2001, he played a significant role in the development and promotion of Birmingham’s leisure tourism offer.
Now holding a principal role in Yorkshire, Anthony’s recent achievements have focused on developing Hull and East Yorkshire’s cultural and visitor economies.
“There can be an assumption that tourism is just about marketing and promotion, but it’s much more than that,” said Anthony.
“It’s about people and places, and being able to create the conditions for individuals to skill up, succeed and thrive.”
When Anthony read the letter confirming his OBE recognition, he felt “very emotional”.
“I was very shocked and very humbled,” said Anthony.
“I’ve still got to keep pinching myself and re-reading the letter to believe it.
“In my career, I’ve worked with some fantastic people across the North West, the West Midlands and Yorkshire.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have received support and guidance from many of the people I’ve worked with.
“I’ve got the honour, but I couldn’t have done this on my own.”
Anthony also thanked his family and friends in Bolton and Hull.
Ella Toone – Professional footballer for Manchester United and the England National Team
MBE for services to Association Football
Ella Toone, 26, has been honoured with the title of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to Association Football.
England’s Lionesses have dominated the Honours list following their dramatic European Championship triumph.
Ella, from Tyldesley, plays as an attacking midfielder for Women’s Super League club Manchester United and the England national team.
She represented England at under-17, under-19, and under-21 levels before becoming a Lioness.
Among her many achievements, Ella scored the opening goal in England’s 2–1 victory over Germany in the final of UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, securing the country’s first-ever European Championship title.
She is also the only England player, male or female, to have scored in a quarter-final, semi-final, and final of a major international tournament.
Vernon Everitt – Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester
CBE for outstanding contribution to Public Transport
Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Vernon Everitt, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his outstanding contribution to public transport.
As Transport Commissioner and Chair of Transport for Greater Manchester’s Executive Board, Vernon has played a pivotal role in the delivery of major transport improvements for the city region’s communities.
Advising Mayor Andy Burnham and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, he has led the development and delivery of the Bee Network – the city region’s joined-up public transport system bringing together buses, trams, and trains with better customer service, fares and ticketing and modern data analytics.
He’s done so during a period of rapid change and many ‘firsts’, including massive improvements to bus services as part of bringing them back under local control.
Vernon said: “I want to thank the Mayor, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Transport for Greater Manchester for allowing me to be part of the Bee Network journey.
“While there’s much still to do to for the people and businesses of the region, real progress has been made thanks to the vision of local leaders and the hard work of TfGM and Manchester’s districts, transport workers and industry partners.
“I look forward to working with them in the period ahead to complete the job.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “This is well-deserved recognition of Vernon’s central role in overseeing the biggest change in public transport outside London in decades.
“The Bee Network’s success is in large part down to Vernon’s knowledge and commitment to public service.
“With it, he has created a template for the transformation of public transport across England in the years to come.
“We congratulate Vernon on his honour and look forward to working with him to bring rail into the Bee Network in 2026.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Chadwick – GMP’s Head of Serious Crime
KPM for exceptional contribution to the field of disaster victim identification (DVI)
Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Chadwick, GMP’s head of serious crime, is to be awarded the King’s Policing Medal (KPM) for his ‘exceptional’ contribution to the field of disaster victim identification (DVI).
He has been involved in a senior leadership role regionally and highly regarded nationally in respect of DVI for several years.
DCS Chadwick has worked extensively with the College of Policing and UKDVI to train senior police officers undertaking the Senior Identification Manager (SIM) course, sharing his experience and learning from numerous deployments including the Manchester Arena attack and the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, DCS Chadwick acted as the GMP lead on the multi-agency team which was tasked with all aspects of death planning.
He led on the force response to excess death, ensuring that community deaths continued to be attended and mortuary capacity was not exceeded.
This work was replicated across the region and wider UK and was held up as the benchmark for good practice in extremely exigent circumstances.
He has encouraged the use of DVI principles within GMP in other categories of death, such as road traffic collisions or fire, resulting in higher numbers of officers trained in DVI processes, and more awareness of the benefits of using a SIM to work alongside the senior investigating officer role.
DCS Chadwick said: “To be recognised in this way is a real honour and privilege for me.
“I’ve worked at GMP for 32 years and have been lucky enough to be a detective for 29 of them.
“Victims are at the heart of what we do in policing, and I have always been committed to public service and to doing the best that we can for the families and loved ones of people who’ve lost their lives in such tragic circumstances.
“I have the best job in the force, so to be awarded the KPM for doing something I love doing feels extremely fortunate and somewhat surreal.
“I am seldom moved by anything in life, but this is something that will always mean a great deal to me and my family – and I will be popular with my children for a short time if they get to go to Buckingham Palace!”
Other names on the King’s New Year Honours 2026 from Bolton and Greater Manchester include:
Philip John Marsh – Head of Openings at OnSide
MBE for services to Young People (Westhoughton)
Head of Openings at OnSide, Philip John Marsh has been recognised with the honour of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Phil’s role is to aid the opening of Future Youth Zone projects with OnSide.
He has spent time as Youth Work Manager at Bolton Lads and Girls Club, Blackburn Youth Zone and lead Wigan Youth Zone through opening before joining OnSide in November 2016.
Phil is currently overseeing the opening process of Legacy Youth Zone in Croydon having previously worked with the staff of Inspire in Chorley.
Margaret Rose Thompson – Girlguiding
MBE for services to Girlguiding (Bolton)
Margaret Rose Thompson has been recognised with the honour of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Girlguiding.
In a special message to this year’s recipients, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester Mrs Diane Hawkins JP LLB said:
The Lord-Lieutenant @DianeHawkins_LL congratulates all the recipients announced in the New Year Honour’s List. She also thanks those who took the time to nominate them. A list of all the recipients who are residents of Greater Manchester can be found here: https://t.co/cVv88sRYfc pic.twitter.com/ZzpysCeOOi
— GM Lieutenancy (@GMLO_UK) December 29, 2025
The Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester proudly represents His Majesty The King.
To find out more about Greater Manchester Lieutenancy, visit manchesterlieutenancy.org.
Anyone can nominate someone for an honour, to find out more visit: www.gov.uk/honours.
