Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton was responding to the postponement of this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list to the autumn for a second raft of community service awards in the fight against Covid-19.
‘I want to encourage people to nominate those who, to you or me, might just be neighbours but they may have been doing things in their street or their parish which are setting an example, really setting an example for us all. That would be a tremendously valuable thing to come out of this horrible period.
‘I’m really keen that the message doesn’t get lost or that people have the idea that you have to be somebody high up in the Hospital or wherever,’ Sir Stephen said.
Jersey’s honours and awards committee, which examines local submissions for national recognition, will now meet again in July to review nominations for the additional awards.
Those recognised might hold professional roles where their contribution has gone far beyond what might be expected of them but awards are also made to acknowledge the efforts of individuals and groups who give outstanding service in their community.
‘The Queen has agreed that because of the special circumstances it would be advantageous and appropriate to recognise, in the immediacy of the crisis, those who have gone well beyond any normal measure of their job.
‘That, of course, includes Islanders from Jersey and, in some cases, those who have gone in a completely different direction to ensure we have the support we need. I would like to encourage all in Jersey to nominate particular individuals or teams who have done outstanding work during the crisis,’ Sir Stephen said.
The Lieutenant-Governor praised the Island community and the government for the way that they had dealt with the crisis so far. But he warned that the virus was something Jersey would have to live with and he underlined the need to learn from the experience of the past three months.
‘Now we’ve got it, all we can do is suppress it to the point where it doesn’t bother most people, most of the time,’ he said. ‘So one of the jobs that needs to be done is to ask, if we were going to face another spread of the epidemic in, say, six or 18 months’ time, have we got in place the right systems, the right supplies – of course, PPE comes to mind, but other things as well – to ensure we are a couple of steps ahead of where we were when we started?’
Sir Stephen also recognised that the impact of the virus was not felt equally across society. ‘Not everyone has the luxury of space and a big garden. There are a lot of people who have nowhere to go if they can’t get out. This is Jersey, absolutely, but it’s not fair to say that everyone has a big house and garden and all the rest of it.’
Nominations for awards must be made by 3 July through the Office of the Lieutenant-Governor. Details are available at www.governmenthouse.gov.je/honours.
