Duo presented with top honours for their dedicated service in south east Northumberland

Two residents have been honoured with prestigious awards in recognition of their dedicated community and voluntary service.
Eric Dickson receives his British Empire Medal from Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland.Eric Dickson receives his British Empire Medal from Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland.
Eric Dickson receives his British Empire Medal from Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland.

The pair were among four presented with British Empire Medals at a special investiture ceremony at Alnwick Castle by the Duchess of Northumberland, in her capacity as the Queen's Lord Lieutenant for the county.

The award is given to those engaging in voluntary work who have made a ‘hands-on’ contribution to their local community and recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters ‘BEM’.

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Eric Mordue Dickson, from Blyth, was awarded the BEM for services to Blind and Visually Impaired People in south east Northumberland.

Lynne Grieves receives her British Empire Medal from Her Grace, the Duchess of Northumberland.Lynne Grieves receives her British Empire Medal from Her Grace, the Duchess of Northumberland.
Lynne Grieves receives her British Empire Medal from Her Grace, the Duchess of Northumberland.

He has overseen the production of the Talking Newspaper for 28 years during which the number of volunteers, readers and listeners have grown steadily.

The local audio magazine featuring local writers, Geordie poems and anecdotes and works tirelessly to ensure those members of the community are included in knowing what is happening locally, delivered the tapes to recipients.

He was instrumental in moving the system to digital MP3 recording and researched equipment, grants, learned the operations. He then trained the blind community using the technology.

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Mrs Lynne Grieves, from Cramlington, was awarded the BEM for services to nursing during Covid-19 at Northlea Court Care Home.

During the pandemic, Lynne would look after the care and welfare of the residents throughout the night assessing, planning and implementing care alongside other care staff.

She ensured residents were well looked after and if needed, Lynne – who was working seven nights a week – would contact the out-of-hours doctors or pandemic services.

In the early pandemic, Lynne chose to stay at home to shield her mother who had several health issues, but realised that her work was as a nurse and so moved in to Northlea, staying in the home for 12 weeks and in time moved back to resume her mother’s care.

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Her Grace, The Duchess of Northumberland said: “To receive a British Empire Medal is a fantastic achievement and I am delighted to be able to present these awards to four very worthy recipients.

"Their utter determination, hard work and dedication to help and support their communities over their lifetime is truly commendable.

"They are a credit to Northumberland and an inspiration to us all.”

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