New Year Honours List 2026: 41 amazing West Midlands actors, campaigners and fundraisers from Birmingham, Black Country, Staffordshire and Wyre Forest honoured by the King

A wide and diverse group of people from the West Midlands have received honours in HM The King’s New Year Honours List.

This year’s recipients have been awarded for their outstanding contributions across all sectors and, in particular, people considered community champions and those who selflessly give have been recognised. 

Each year, people of all ages and backgrounds are honoured for the remarkable impact they have on the lives of others. 

This year’s list is as diverse as ever, featuring awards that recognise contributions to health, education, sport and the arts, as well as for services to social enterprise, fundraising and a range of DE&I initiatives.

Actress, comedian and writer Meera Syal has been given a damehood in the King’s New Year Honours list, with the 64-year-old recognised for her services to literature, drama and charity.

Dame Meera was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s New Year Honours list in 1997, and in 2015 she was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

She is the daughter of Indian Punjabi parents who moved to the UK from New Delhi, and was born in Wolverhampton in 1961.

She is best known for her work writing for and starring in British Asian comedies Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No 42, as well as being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017, and in 2023, she received the Bafta Fellowship award.

During her career, Dame Meera has also dedicated herself to charity work, and is an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society and is also a supporter of Kisharon, a charity for Jewish children, young people, and adults with learning disabilities and autism.

Across the Black Country and Birmingham, 20 people have been named in The King’s New Year Honours List, which include two OBEs, 10 MBEs and eight BEMs (British Empire Medals).

OBE's were awarded to Dr Harjinder Singh Lallie from Birmingham for services to Musical Heritage, to Faith Communities and to Integration.

Dr Lallie is founder of the Gurmat Sangeet Academy, a not-for-profit school of Sikh Music dedicated to raising awareness of Gurmat Sangeet Kirtan and Katha through teaching, performances and outreach.

Ann-Marie Riley from West Bromwich was also awarded an OBE for services to Nursing.

Ms Riley is chief nurse at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, having held a number of nursing leadership roles, including Deputy Chief Nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals where she supported the organisation to attain both internationally accredited Pathway to Excellence and Magnet Designations, and Director of Nursing at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. 

Among this year's Medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) awardees is Katherine Anne Smith, from Stourbridge, who was handed the award for her services to Brain Tumour Research and to various other charities.

Ms Anne Smith started campaigning for Brain Tumour Research after she was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer just three months after returning home from her honeymoon.

She has since gone on to raise thousands of pounds for charity through various fundraisers, including a celebrity hat auction, where she auctioned off famous hats, including a famous Peaky Blinders cap from Cillian Murphy.

She said: "I actually feel a bit embarrassed about it all. I think there are a lot of people who deserve this recognition more than I do.

"I don't want people to think that I do this for the accolades or recognition.

"Everything that I have done is to try to prevent this from happening to someone else in the future. I can't bear the thought of a child, or a family member or friend sitting in the doctor's office, and being told the same thing I was told.

"That's why I do this." 

Traci Dix-Williams, of Telford, has received the MBE for services to heritage.

Most recently, Ms Dix-Williams has been chief executive of the Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust, a position she held for eight years, stepping down around 12 months ago.

Ms Dix Williams, who is 60 and has lived in Telford since she was 10 years old, said it was an emotional moment realising that she was going to receive an MBE.

She said: "I cried! I had no idea I had been nominated so initially when I saw the envelope I thought I was being called up for jury duty and I thought 'no, not just before Christmas'. But, when I opened the envelope and saw what it was I just cried - and I am not a crier!"

Ms Dix-Williams, who was brought in at Dudley as the organisation transitioned to a heritage attraction from a canal society, credited her time at Ironbridge as the perfect preparation.

She said: "I had the most amazing cultural and heritage apprenticeship at Ironbridge."

Speaking about her time at the Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust she said: "It was great. I am not going to say it was not without its challenges as it was not a financially rich organisation, but the culture change, everyone was really open to it and a small team of people really stepped up."

Mrs Dix-Williams said the organisation was even able to cope with the Covid pandemic, an event which had a huge impact on many heritage attractions.

She said: "We had Covid and so many attractions had to close but we really managed to come through Covid well."

She added: "We were lucky we had projects that were sat waiting to be done and as devastating as Covid was, it gave us the time to put that into place."

Ms Dix Williams said she was delighted to have been recognised but added: "I am thrilled, but I feel very guilty - I have had a 40 year career in something I have loved."

She said: "Also, there are a lot of other people who got me here today."

Ms Dix-Williams said she would continue to be passionate about safeguarding the country's heritage and sharing it.

She said: "I can never understand anyone who is not interested in our history, it is not just the past, it helps you understand today and the future. And if you don't care for these places and get something from them then they will go."

Keith Bowley from Bridgnorth received the MBE for services to the community.

Mr Bowley, who is 76, has provided dedicated voluntary service to Bridgnorth for the past 30 years - most recently serving as chair of Bridgnorth Community Trust, which was set up 12 years ago.

The organisation was set up as a Christian Charity to enable Christians, and others, to serve the people of Bridgnorth and the surrounding areas through various projects.

The projects include Bridgnorth Food Bank - led by Liz Bird, the Debt Centre - led by Mark Triggs, Bridgnorth Youth and Schools Project - led by John Prockter, and Together at Christmas, co-ordinated by Don Gibbons.

Mr Bowley said he was incredibly proud at the recognition, but was quick to point to the efforts of others in providing the services for the people of Bridgnorth.