A former chairman of the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) has been awarded one of the highest civil honours in the Queen’s birthday honours’ list.
Penny Snell has been awarded with a CBE for her ‘charitable services to nursing and caring, and to gardens and gardening in England and Wales’.
Martin McMillan, the current NGS Chairman, praised Snell as a ”remarkable lady, who has devoted much of her life to her work for the National Gardens Scheme and, in the process, made a unique contribution to the charity. Penny’s honour is richly deserved.”
The Royal Horticultural Society awarded Snell the Veitch Memorial Medal when she stood down as chairman in 2014 and she holds the Queen’s Nursing Institute’s (QNI) Long Service Award for her contribution to the charity’s work over many years.
Professor Ruth Northway, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Fellow and chair of the RCN research society, also received an OBE for services to learning disability nursing.
Before working in nurse education, Northway worked with people with learning disabilities in both residential and community settings.
She was the first Professor of Learning Disability Nursing, and the second learning disability nurse to be awarded an RCN Fellowship.
Also on the list were Fiona Murphy, RCN Nurse of the Year 2011, and Rose Gallagher, RCN Professional Lead for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).
Both Murphy and Gallagher were given an MBE for their contributions to nursing.
Murphy’s innovative work combining organ donation and bereavement services ignited a surge in tissue donations throughout the UK, saving the lives of hundreds of patients every year.
Gallagher, meanwhile, led the infection control nursing team at Stoke Mandeville Hospital through the outbreak of Clostridium difficule before starting her role at the RCN in 2007.
Janet Davies, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the RCN, said: “Nursing is one of the UK’s most vital and treasured professions and it’s wonderful to see it recognised in the Queen’s 90th birthday honours list.
“I am so proud of all these remarkable nurses, who each represent the profound impact just one nurse can have on the lives of so many.”
Also on the list was Dr Cheryll Adams, the founding director of the Institute of Health Visiting.
Adams was recognised for her contribution to the health visiting profession and the important role it plays in improving outcomes for children, families and communities.
