Two people from Wakefield are among those who have been recognised by the Queen for their work during the Covid pandemic

A foster carer from Hemsworth has been honoured by the Queen.
Foster carer Marie Dickens was awarded a BEM for her work in the Hemsworth community during Covid.Foster carer Marie Dickens was awarded a BEM for her work in the Hemsworth community during Covid.
Foster carer Marie Dickens was awarded a BEM for her work in the Hemsworth community during Covid.

Marie Dickens, 45, found out this week she has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community during Covid-19.

Marie set up a project in November 2019 to help support teenagers who were getting pregnant in care.

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She said: “It opened up a can of worms. That Christmas we were doing Christmas dinners for families who were struggling, helping with presents and collecting and distributing secondhand things to families who couldn’t make ends meet.”

Parish priest Father Darren Percival who has been awarded the BEMParish priest Father Darren Percival who has been awarded the BEM
Parish priest Father Darren Percival who has been awarded the BEM

The Embrace Project gathered pace during lockdown. It’s a not-for-profit organisation that helps more vulnerable members of the community who are in need of support.

This includes assisting teenagers who are coming out of care and providing them with essential household items in order to give them a good start to assisted living.

The project also supports local families who are in need, such as helping new mothers find their feet and relocating families after traumatic events.

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Marie said: “During lockdown I put my name and number on cards and distributed them to elderly people who didn’t have anyone to shop for them and I helped set up a food bank.

“I still shop for two of the elderly women who are both in their 90s.”

Marie got a phone call at the end of April to say she had been nominated for the BEM and would she accept.

At first she didn’t know who had nominated her but suspicion soon fell on her 25-year-old daughter Chloe who said she needed some recognition for all the work she’d done.

Marie said: “I thought that was lovely.”

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She added:“I was surprised and it was quite a shock but a nice shock.

“I like to help people anyway. I didn’t see what I was doing as being anything out of the ordinary.

“It was just going that extra mile to help other people.

She added:”I’ve been a foster carer for seven years along with my husband Neil.

“We have three grown-up children of our own, have adopted a little boy and are currently fostering four children, three of them on a long-term basis.”

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A priest from Wakefield has also been awarded a BEM for his services to the community.

Father Darren Percival, 51, who lives in Hall Green is the parish priest at St Hilda’s Church Cross Green and St Saviour’s Richmond Hill, two disadvantaged areas of Leeds and some of the poorest inner-city areas in the UK.

Prior to the pandemic he instigated the first soup kitchen in the area, having noticed on his visits to parishioners that people were going without hot meals.

He also regularly arranged coach trips to the seaside and other beauty spots for families who otherwise would be unable to go, enabling children, in some cases, to see the sea for the first time.

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He worked tirelessly during the pandemic to support people isolating, those who have lost employment or struggling to gain employment or coping with mental health issues and those who are homeless.

He also actively seeks out the homeless, providing tents, sleeping bags, groundsheets, warm clothing and food.

Fr Darren was instrumental in the creation of the local much-valued food-bank which was set up within days of the start of national lockdown in March 2020.

He assists with the distribution of food, including delivering food parcels to those shielding or isolating.

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He said: “I was really touched, really humbled because I don’t do it for recognition.

“I’ve always said publicly, all I do is get my hands dirty for God and try to make a difference to people’s lives.”