FIVE Islanders have received exciting news in this year’s Birthday Honours List.
Jennifer Bridge, Jason Hamon and William Harris received MBEs for services to the Island community, while Roy MacDonald received the British Empire Medal for his work with the Jersey Kenpo Karate Association. There was also reward for the head gardener at Government House, Stuart Crossan, whose services to the Crown were recognised with the Royal Victorian Medal (silver).
William Harris
Race organiser, racing sailor and a man with ‘a passion for sailing’, William Harris said he was ‘pretty shocked and surprised’ when he received news that his work had been recognised in the latest honours list.
Having been deeply involved with local sailing for the past 30 years, Mr Harris is currently sailing secretary – and a past commodore – of the Royal Channel Island Yacht Club, and he first became a race officer in the early 1990s. For the past nine years, he has been race officer for the Island’s oldest sailing event, the Gorey Regatta.
But it is his work as chairman of the Jersey Regatta that has drawn the special appreciation of many involved in sailing in the Island. The Carey Olsen Jersey Regatta, which this year takes place between 7 and 10 September, attracts participants from the UK and France, as well as Jersey and Guernsey.
‘I have been involved since the very beginning when the three Island yacht clubs decided to come together for the event,’ he explained. ‘It is Jersey’s biggest regatta, sometimes involving as many as 100 boats, and this year is the 25th edition. It covers everything that sails from optimists [dinghies] up to cruiser racers. There is a lot that goes on in the background and behind the scenes for the event.’
Although surprised by the recognition that the latest honours list brought, Mr Harris said he was ‘very, very grateful’ to those who had had the faith to put his name forward. He said he expected no reward other than the vicarious pleasure that came from the organisation of the event.
In addition to his work supporting Island sailing, Mr Harris has also been a member of the Lions Club of Jersey since 1991, twice serving as president of what he described as a particularly ‘dynamic club’, and he is also a member of the Jersey Humane Society. He has been a tutor and administrator for the Open University in Jersey and he spent 25 years as a member of the distance-learning staff based in Jersey.
Jason Hamon
Few recipients of the MBE will be able to trace their community service back quite as far as Jason Hamon, who joined St John Ambulance as a cadet at the age of just 12.
‘My mother wanted to be a nurse, although she never made it, but I was always interested in the medical aspect of things,’ he recalled. ‘I had a cousin who was involved in St John Ambulance and she invited me along and I really enjoyed it.’
It was a natural step for the young Mr Hamon, who added that television documentaries and dramas had already inspired an interest in joining the ambulance service.
That ambition was to be fulfilled and, in 1995, he qualified as a paramedic, developing a particular interest in – and specialism for – covering motor sport. Mr Hamon has given his time to countless Island events on a voluntary basis with St John Ambulance and with Normandy Rescue, something which he explained had given him particular satisfaction over the years.
‘I love working with many different people on a voluntary basis, whether marshals or officials, as they all bring something different. And there’s a really good spirit and a good atmosphere which shows how important all these volunteers are to the Island,’ he said.
While his MBE recognises his voluntary service and, in particular, the countless rallies and motor-cross events that he has supported, Mr Hamon’s dedication to the ambulance service has also been formally rewarded with the King’s Ambulance Service Medal, a distinguished service award for personnel in the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, which was introduced in 2011.
It was 33 years ago that Mr Hamon first joined the service, and he has worked across a range of different projects and initiatives involving training, working with the community, Safety in Action focusing on young people and Prison Me, No Way.
Since 2011, he has been closely involved in the Island’s contingency planning to ensure that detailed arrangements for emergency cover are set out in the event of particular emergency scenarios.
Jennifer Bridge
Chair of the Jersey Festival of Words Jennifer Bridge acknowledges that putting on an annual event that engages a huge cross-section of the Island community is very much a team effort.
But it was Ms Bridge who assembled that team and has led it since the first festival in 2015.
‘We started the festival because we wanted to share the pleasure and power of words in whatever form, with something for everyone. Reading is, by its nature, a solitary activity, so we wanted to create an opportunity to bring people together with books – and, more broadly, words – being the common bond,’ she said.
Since then, she has helped to bring dozens of writers to the Island, promoted the work of Jersey authors, encouraged reading among the young, and staged events in unusual places – Jersey Hospice and La Moye Prison being just two examples – as well as at the more obvious cultural venues.
Last year, with the Jersey Opera House out of action, she laid the foundations for an event based in a marquee in the Howard Davis Park, and it is clear that the excitement generated by that experiment is something that Ms Bridge is hoping to build upon.
‘The Jersey Festival of Words is a charity, so we are very much dependant on the year-round voluntary work of the committee to build each festival. I hope that, if we can secure further funding, our collective vision for a festival village, with a range of events in different marquees, can come to fruition,’ she said.
Ms Bridge, who served two terms in the States as Deputy for St Helier 2 district, is also the founder of the Grouville Repair Café, an initiative to promote sustainability and reduce waste within the parish. Her other voluntary activities include acting as team leader for the Living Wage Campaign in Jersey and sitting on the Employment Tribunal.
‘It is the absolute honour of my life to receive this award and I really wish I could share it with my fellow members of the festival committee,’ she said.
Roy MacDonald
Learning karate is more than a sport for those brought up in Clydebank – it is a very practical life skill, Roy MacDonald said.
In fact, it is exactly the reason that he first took it up although he is quick to point out that he never had to deploy his expertise in self-defence on the streets of Glasgow.
Almost 50 years after helping to introduce it in Jersey, the senior instructor of the Jersey Kenpo Karate Association has received the British Empire Medal for his commitment to generations of Islanders of all ages. They have benefited, he believes, from the sport’s special combination of physical and mental strength.
‘It was quite a shock when I found out, I can tell you,’ Mr MacDonald said, as he looked back on the growth of the club which has been located at Fort Regent for the past 35 or so years. Over that time, he calculates that thousands of Islanders have learned under his guidance and that of his colleagues.
‘Teaching the art has given me a lot of satisfaction, as I’ve seen students develop. They are of all ages and some have challenges with mental stress or with physical problems, so it’s great to see them progress.
‘When students bow at the mat, they leave a lot of difficult thoughts at the door. When one of them gets a belt, it’s a great honour for us all,’ he said.
While studying himself, he remembers travelling to America where he was intrigued by the commitment of students learning to develop their minds in a quite different cultural context.
It inspired him to re-form the Jersey Kenpo Karate Association. ‘I saw the potential of helping individuals to better themselves,’ he said.
By profession a remedial therapist – Mr MacDonald treats sports injuries – he has also been involved in instruction for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and, during a visit to the Island by the Queen and Prince Philip, he organised a demonstration involving 20 children for the official party. He remembers that the Duke came over and asked him whether they were going to do any breaking of bricks. ‘Not today, sir,’ he replied, adding: ‘It was a wonderful moment.’
Stuart Crossan
Stuart Crossan, head gardener at Government House, was ‘quite taken aback’ when he was told that his services to the Crown had been recognised with the award of the Royal Victorian Medal.
The medal, which lies in the personal gift of the sovereign, recognises personal service to the Crown. In Mr Crossan’s case, these services began 26 years ago when he was appointed deputy head gardener. Six years later, he assumed responsibility for the gardens at the top of St Saviour’s Hill.
During his service, he has seen five Lieutenant-Governors complete their terms of office and, with the arrival in October last year of Vice-Admiral Jerry Kyd and his wife, Dr Karen Kyd, he is now working for his sixth personal representative of the monarch in Jersey.
Those changes bring their own professional challenges because each incumbent will exert their influence not only on the role of the Lieutenant-Governor but also on the appearance of the official residence.
As Mr Crossan explained: ‘Every governor has his own ideas about what is wanted, so you have to work hand in hand with the governor and the lady of the house to create something new, incorporating any changes or features that are required, and there have been quite a few over the years.’
Mr Crossan is conscious of the distinction of serving the Crown, not least because of its relationship with the people of Jersey.
The gardens of Government House play an important role not only for the Lieutenant-Governor but also for the many local organisations he supports.
‘So many charities use the grounds for events and so you try to give every event the best day it can have,’ he said.
By coincidence another native of Clydebank, Mr Crossan came to Jersey as a young man and established his own gardening business before responding to the opportunity to work at Government House.
‘The appeal of Jersey was that it is just such a lovely Island. It is such a friendly place and it is great to have the chance to work somewhere that is so special. When I heard about the medal, it was quite an emotional moment. It is a huge honour to be responsible for the gardens,’ he said.
