TWO Marlborough ladies and champion jockey Tony McCoy, who part-owns the Outside Chance in Manton, are among those to have made the Queen’s New Year honours list.

June Pearson, of East Grafton, will receive an MBE, Sheila Glass, of Ramsbury, will receive a BEM, and McCoy, 41 is to receive a knighthood from the Queen.

He tweeted: “For once words fail me, a knighthood is the greatest honour, feel very proud for myself, family & my sport. Thanks for all your kind messages.”

Sheila Glass

Dedicated parish councillor Mrs Glass will be receiving her British Empire Medal for all her services to the community in Ramsbury and Axford.

Mrs Glass, 69, who has lived in The Paddocks, Ramsbury with her husband Clive, 71, for more than 40 years, found out a couple of weeks ago she was on New Year honours list but was sworn to secrecy until the list was published.

“I am extremely pleased and very surprised,” the retired pharmacist said.

Mrs Glass, who was born in Sunderland, moved to Ramsbury in 1977 and has been part of the parish council since 1986. She has also been chairman since 2000.

The mother-of-four set up the village charity shop six years ago with the help of Mary Holdsworth and they have raised a whopping £70,000 during that time.

She also volunteers for the Ramsbury & Axford Link Scheme and helps with the church flowers, as well as being part of the Ramsbury Horticultural Society.

“Without the full support of my husband and family I could have done half of the things I did. They put up with me going out to all sorts of meetings and I always believe you should lead from the front if you want something to be done,” she added.

For nearly ten years Mrs Glass was also school governor for St John’s in Marlborough and at Ramsbury Primary School before she become chair of governors. She and Tim Pope were also influential in getting the new school primary school built.

She added: “There are a lot more people than me here who are equally deserving, and it is not just one person who does all these things but I was surprised and pleased.”

June Pearson

Committed volunteer June Pearson, of East Grafton, is to also receive an MBE for her services to the community in Devon and Wiltshire. She has been supporting the NSPCC for the past 25 years and has raised thousands and thousands of pounds for the children’s charity.

Mrs Pearson, 64, who lives with her husband Ronnie and has two sons and three grandchildren, said: “It is an enormous honour, I feel so privileged. It is amazing when I look back at what I have achieved and it has been done with an enormous amount of pleasure.

“I remember when I opened the letter and I thought ‘what is this?’ then when I started to realise I was staggered. It is an honour and I wish my parents were still here to see me receive it.”

She is most proud of her work with the The Addington Fund and fundraising to help farmers during the foot and mouth outbreak before she moved to Wiltshire eight years ago.

The retired fashion designer, who said she has always had a vocation for helping children, has also organised coffee mornings to raise money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Riding for the Disabled and Help for Heroes.

It will not be the first time meeting the Queen for Mrs Pearson, who also helps at Sunflowers Pre-school, Great Bedwyn Primary School and is chairman of East Grafton Village Hall, as she met her during a visit to Salisbury Cathedral during her Diamond Jubilee year.

Mrs Pearson had painted a huge pictorial map of Pewsey Vale in honour of the Queen’s special year and was introduced to the Queen.

She added: “The Queen viewed it with great interest, remarking on the places of interest, and seemed very pleased to tell me that she had had her portrait painted by a gentleman from Pewsey. She was absolutely charming and has the twinkliest eyes ever.

“It gives me great pleasure to help other people and meet so many lovely people, it enriches life.”