Local heroes recognised for life-saving work

A Scots lifeboat manager said yesterday he was “utterly amazed” to have been named on the New Year Honours List.

Geoffrey Norris, 68, from Lamlash on the Isle of Arran, will pick up an MBE after almost 40 years of service with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

The retired road engineer who first volunteered as a helper in 1973 became the Arran lifeboat operations manager five years later, a post which he still holds.

“This award is totally unexpected,” he said. “I wondered what I’d done wrong when the letter arrived from the Cabinet Office.

“I was utterly amazed. I think it is in true recognition of the work we do as a station and all of the other volunteers at stations around the country.”

Two firefighters from the same service have been awarded a Queen’s medal in the New Year Honours List.

Group Commander Cameron Black and Watch Commander David Boyd, both from Lanarkshire, who have a combined total of 60 years service with Strathclyde Fire and Rescue (SFR), received the honours for their distinguished records.

Mr Black, 51, who joined SFR in 1978, said today that the award is an “honour and a privilege”. He has worked around the world to help reduce road fatalities, sharing his knowledge on the subject with colleagues in South Africa in 1999 before travelling to Australia, where he was part of a team that established the World Rescue Organisation.

Mr Boyd, 48, is head officer at Kilsyth community fire station, which is said to have “excellent performance” in service delivery. With Mr Boyd in charge, the station’s appliance availability has achieved a figure of 99.43 per cent. This means the unit has been able to respond to calls straight away almost all of the time.

He said: “This is a huge honour – and something that came out of the blue. This is not just an award for me, but for all firefighters in Scotland and across the UK who show the same dedication to the service I have over the years.”

Recipients of the Queen’s Police Medal include Hugh Duncan, a special constable, in the Grampian Police, David Reynolds, a police constable with Tayside Police and Ruaraidh Nicolson, Chief Superintendent of Strathclyde Police.

Mr Duncan, a special constable since 1970, also runs a farm, and has been a mentor to new recruits in a 41-year career. Mr Reynolds was praised for his “humanity and passion” after he received a Certificate of Merit in recognition of his work with an attempted suicide case.

As divisional commander, Mr Nicolson has overseen the successful merging of two police territorial areas. He helped develop the Violence Reduction Unit – a model of good practice which was adopted by other forces.