Queen's Birthday Honours 2012 - The Jewish Chronicle

Judge Clive Callman has been knighted for his services to law, education and charity. The judge has been part of the Anglo-Jewish Association since 1956, and is a governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is also director of the Jewish Studies Foundation in London.

Another new knight is Sir Brian Pomeroy, honoured for his services to financial inclusion and the voluntary sector.

Sir Brian, who already holds a CBE, recently appeared on a panel at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue discussing global increases in slavery. He is currently chairman of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, and is on the board of the Financial Services Authority.

A CBE has gone to Glaswegian Dr David Walton for services to charity and the community in Glasgow.
The Walton Foundation, which Dr Walton, a member of Giffnock Synagogue, set up with his parents in 1964, has benefited many medical causes and care organisations, including construction of the Walton Community Care Centre, which houses Jewish Care Scotland, the Jewish Blind Society, and Cosgrove Care.

Lady Chinn receives a CBE for her charitable services to health and arts. Lady Chinn, wife of Sir Trevor Chinn, vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council, has devoted 40 years to Great Ormond Street Hospital as a volunteer and a special trustee. She is also a board member at the National Theatre and chairs its development council.

Joshua Berger receives a CBE for his services to the creative industries. President and managing director of Warner Bros Entertainment UK, Mr Berger has contributed greatly to the film industry for over 20 years. In 2009, he was appointed to the UK Film Council’s board of directors. He is also a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of BAFTA, the British Screen Advisory Council, and the Young Presidents’ Organisation.

Michael Grabiner, chair of Partnership for Schools, receives a CBE for services to education. Mr Grabiner has been a trustee and chair of governors for the cross-denominational school JCoss, senior vice-chair of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, chair of ResponseAbility, a member of the Jewish Community Day Schools Advisory Board and a trustee and member of the Board of the UK Jewish Film Festival.

Civil servant Mike Fuhr has been awarded a CBE for his work in turning the nationwide train service Crossrail into a reality, as well as his role in setting up the government structures which allowed for the building of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium.

Mr Fuhr said: “My parents came here fleeing the Nazis. England accepted them when no one else would, and now I’ve been honoured by my country in a way I never thought would be the case.” A member of Reading Hebrew Congregation, Mr Fuhr received an OBE in 2000 for his role in revitalising the High Speed 1 railway line.

Dr Jennifer Montagu receives a CBE for services to art history. Dr Montagu, whose father, the late Hon Ewen Montagu, was president of the United Synagogue, has also earned a Légion d’Honneur and Cavalliera from France and Italy respectively, as well as a Royal Victorian Order for advising the Queen on matters related to the royal art collection.

Two Holocaust survivors, one of whom is a veteran children’s author, have also been honoured.

Mala Tribich receives a MBE for her services to education. Mrs Tribich, born in Poland and survivor of two Nazi death camps, volunteers at the Holocaust Education Trust and Imperial War Museum in London.

The writer of the children’s classic, The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Judith Kerr, receives an OBE for her services to children’s literature and Holocaust education. Mrs Kerr, 89, who created the cat hero Mog, has also written three autobiographical novels that follow her journey from Nazi Germany to London. One is the much-admired When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.

Ashley Sweetland, a trustee of the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, received the MBE for services to young people. The 28-year-old is a former executive director of the UK Youth Parliament.

Solicitor Henry Frydenson receives an MBE for his services to the community in north west London.
Mr Frydenson, a member of the strictly Orthodox community of Gur Chasidim, founded the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS) in 1997. He has also worked with the volunteer ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, spending 25 years on the committee and sitting as chairman for 10 years.

The news of his award took Mr Frydenson completely by surprise, as he readily admitted: “I was sure it was one of my friends winding me up, so I ended up calling the Cabinet Office and telling them off.”
However, once he realised that it was not a practical joke, he said it was “an absolute honour”, and that he saw the recognition of his work with Hatzola Northwest as “a reward for all the wonderful work our volunteers do.”

Felicity Green has been awarded an OBE for services to journalism. Ms Green, a pioneer in the 1960s’ fashion scene, was among the first to write about Twiggy and Mary Quant. Later she became associate editor of the Daily Mirror, the first woman to be appointed to the board of a national paper. Ms Green has advised the boards of the Express, the Telegraph, and mentored at the University of the Arts, London.

David Teacher receives a MBE for services to ex-service organisations, specifically the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women, and to charity in Greater Manchester.

Michael Leek has been awarded an OBE for services to sport for disabled children and to the community in Solihull and Birmingham.
He provides disabled children with golf training, and has coached over 3,500 enthusiasts. He was also instrumental in raising £1 million to pay for a scanner at his local hospital, and the £2 million which was needed to build the Andrew Cohen House Care Home in Birmingham.

Hugh Ogus has been awarded an MBE for services to education. Mr Ogus, a member of Stanmore Synagogue, chaired the Mary Hare School for the Deaf from 1992-2008. The school provides free education for children with profound or severe hearing losses, and was recently rated “outstanding” by Ofsted. He admitted that “even though one doesn’t do the work hoping that one’s going to get a gong”, it was nevertheless “very nice to be appreciated”.

Baroness Beeban Kidron receives an OBE for services to drama. Film director Baroness Kidron adapted Jeanette Winterson’s novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, and in 2004 she directed Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

In 2008 she co-founded the charity Filmclub and in the same year she became a board member of the UK Film Council.

Nita Bharier, of the Barnet League of Jewish Women, has been awarded the recently re-established BEM (Medallist of the Order of the British Empire) for services to the Jewish community in Enfield, Barnet and Haringey.

In the 1970s, Ms Bharier co-founded a kosher meals-on-wheels service for housebound locals, but she soon realised that they also needed companionship. In 1981, this led her to co-found the Henriques House Jewish Day Centre, now known as the Woodside Park Jewish Day Centre, which she chairs.

Phillip Froomberg has been awarded a BEM for voluntary service to the SSAFA Forces Help (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association).

Mr Froomberg, a retired managing director, volunteered in Merton, south-west London, to aid the armed forces charity, which helps anyone who has served in the military.

Property developer Joseph Schleider receives a BEM for his services to the Jewish community in north London.The award recognises his work in raising funds and organising the construction of Stamford Hill’s Bayis Sheli, a £6 million residential facility for physically disabled children.