'I've served in Iraq and led state funerals - The Wrekin still gives me butterflies every time I see it'

A Telford boy who became a decorated soldier and took charge of some of the most high-profile events in the country says The Wrekin still gives him “butterflies” every time he sees it.

Garrison Sergeant Major Andrew ‘Vern’ Stokes was born in Madeley, went to school in Wellington, joined the army aged 16 and now lives in Coalbrookdale.

GSM Stokes told a meeting on Thursday (May 21) that he credits his headteacher at the now closed Blessed Robert Johnson School in Wellington with "keeping me on the straight and out of trouble”.

His military career has taken him on active duty to places like Iraq and Afghanistan but thoughts of Shropshire helped remind him that there was "life outside of my small bubble”.

GSM Stokes fondly remembers receiving copies of the Shropshire Star and Telford Journal while on the front line.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the papers - including the property pages of the Telford Journal - "reminded me of friends and colleagues back home”.

GSM Stokes even appeared a few times over the years in the pages of the Shropshire Star.

"Telford and Wrekin is where I grew up, our family grew up," he said. "Our friends and neighbours mean the world to us.

"The area has a spiritual heartbeat, and every time I see The Wrekin it gives me butterflies and has done for 40 years."

GSM Stokes has taken charge of the most high-profile military ceremonial events in the British Army, including state funerals and the coronation of King Charles III.

As Garrison Sergeant Major in London, he also oversees Trooping the Colour.

He told a special meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council called on Thursday (May 21), to award him Freedom of the Borough status that he was "deeply honoured" to receive the accolade.

"This has been my home since birth. It is a place I am immensely proud to call home," he said.

GSM Stokes is also the recipient of an OBE, a Member of the Royal Victorian Order for distinguished service to the royal family and a county deputy lieutenant.

He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 2013 in recognition of his outstanding service.

And in 2022 he won a BAFTA for his role in organising the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.

The meeting heard that this sits in his office in Horseguards in London.

He is also a board member of the Christopher Turley Armed Forces Community Hub in Dawley.

Shropshire deputy lieutenant Mandy Thorn called GSM Stokes "an inspiring man".

"I can think of no-one more deserving."

Councillors voted unanimously to confer the honour on GSM Stokes.

And party leaders joined in the accolades lead by council leader Lee Carter.

Councillor Carter praised him for having the "best of values that we hold as a community".

He added that GSM Stokes had displayed "precision, discipline and leadership" in his role.

Councillor Andrew Eade said he "marvelled at the co-ordination of the British Army which does it better than anyone else”.

Councillor Bill Tomlinson added: "I cannot think of anyone more deserving."

On the same evening councillors also unanimously approved a Special Recognition Award for Mark Pemberton OBE, chair of trustees of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, for his role in overseeing the transfer of the museums to the National Trust, a move seen as securing the long-term future of one of the UK’s most significant historic sites.