Helping others has led to MBEs for Keir and James

Leamington’s Keir McDonald and Southam’s James Chapman have been made MBEs.

Keir is owner of Leamington-based, award-winning distance learning company, EduCare and has been honoured for his services to children. In 1997, Keir set up a partnership with the NSPCC to help them expand their training provision as their resources were limited. Together, they developed a range of 11 online and paper-based learning programmes on subjects such as child protection awareness, preventing bullying behaviour, children’s rights, child neglect, safer recruitment and child sexual abuse.

The need was such that, 15years later, almost 500,000 participants from an extensive range of sectors such as health, education, charity, probation and many more, have undertaken one or more programmes. The entire undertaking has been conducted on a not-for-profit basis.

Keir said: “I am extremely proud to accept the MBE as recognition of the work we do to improve children’s safety and wellbeing.

“I view the award as a collective effort on behalf of my passionate and dedicated colleagues and I thank them for making a very simple idea into the outstanding success it has become. To everyone who has completed an EduCare programme, I also say thank you for helping to eliminate ignorance and inaction.”

Farm safety campaigner James Chapman has battled hard for the cause since his left arm was severed when his clothes became entangled with an unguarded agricultural machine in 2005.

An early supporter of the Health and Safety Executive’s Make the Promise campaign, it took more than a year for Mr Chapman to come to terms with the accident and begin thinking positively about how he could use his experience to prevent others suffering. In his own time, Mr Chapman raises money for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and the Air Ambulance, which came to his aid. He was named Farmers Weekly Farming Champion of the Year in 2011.