New Year Honours 2026
Geoffrey Wellens BEM
British Empire Medal (BEM)
“For services to Heritage and to the community in Middleton, Greater Manchester.”
Timeline
British Empire Medal (BEM)
For services to Heritage and to the community in Middleton, Greater Manchester.
View London Gazette notice ↗London Gazette notice
British Empire Medal
Civil Division
Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
St. James’s Palace, London SW1
30 December 2025
THE KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the British Empire Medal (Civil Division) to the undermentioned:
B.E.M.
Geoffrey WELLENS
For services to Heritage and to the community in Middleton, Greater Manchester.
Source: The London Gazette, issue 64940 · Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0
Location
See other people honoured from Chester →
Location comes from the Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list, not the Gazette notice, and isn’t available for every honour.
In context
Each honour in context
Role, region and citation as recorded for each award.
British Empire Medal
New Year Honours 2026- Region
- Chester, Cheshire
“For services to Heritage and to the community in Middleton, Greater Manchester.”
Mark the occasion
Commemorate Geoffrey's honour
Celebrate this recognition with a keepsake worthy of the achievement - free to share, beautifully made to keep.
New Year Honours 2026
Geoffrey Wellens
British Empire Medal (BEM)
“For services to Heritage and to the community in Middleton, Greater Manchester.”
Free
Shareable card
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New Year Honours 2026
Geoffrey Wellens
British Empire Medal (BEM)
“For services to Heritage and to the community in Middleton, Greater Manchester.”
Keepsake · from £9.99
Digital download
Print-ready in every size (A5–A3 + US Letter), plus the official London Gazette notice and full issue PDFs. Add your own photo.
New Year Honours 2026
Geoffrey Wellens
British Empire Medal (BEM)
“For services to Heritage and to the community in Middleton, Greater Manchester.”
Print · from £5.99
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In context
The bigger picture
How common is this award?
The British Empire Medal was awarded 341 times in the New Year Honours List 2026 — about 23% of the list.
In their area
83 British Empire Medal recipients are from Cheshire.
How widely is this recognised?
4,039 people have been recognised for Arts & Culture.
Counts reflect the 2000–2026 honours lists in our records; earlier years are not yet included.
Honoured alongside them
Others awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours 2026
Adam Tinsley
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Rotherham, South Yorkshire
“For services to the community in Maltby, South Yorkshire.”
Adrian St Clair Emery
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Shrewsbury, Shropshire
“For Voluntary Service.”
Adrienne Campbell
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Crowthorne, Berkshire
“For services to the Aviation Industry.”
Alan Brydon
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Hawick, Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale
“For services to Music in Hawick, Scotland.”
Alastair Norman
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Stourpaine, Dorset
“For services to the community in Stourpaine, Dorset.”
Alexander Canham
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
“For services to British Foreign Policy.”
Alexander Dalgarno
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen
“For services to Tourism in the North East of Scotland.”
Alice Potter
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Woking, Surrey
“For services to Policing and to the community in Surrey.”
Alison Humphreys
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Oswestry, Shropshire
“For services to people with Memory Loss and Dementia.”
Alison Irwin
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Portstewart, County Antrim
“For services to Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.”
Alison Milne
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Huntly, Aberdeenshire
“For services to Highland Dancing.”
Alun Clements
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Ware, Hertfordshire
“For Voluntary Service.”
Amila Begumahmed (amila Ahmed)
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Education.”
Amy Jackson
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Coventry, West Midlands
“For services to Bereaved Parents.”
Amy Watson
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire
“For services to Foster Care.”
Andrew Cant
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Kirkwall, Orkney
“For services to Music in Orkney.”
Andrew Dewhurst
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Christchurch, Dorset
“For Charitable Service.”
Andrew Salter
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Thatcham, Berkshire
“For services to Defence Engineering and to Young People.”
Angela Buss
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Blackpool, Lancashire
“For services to the community in Blackpool.”
Angela O’callaghan
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Colchester, Essex
“For services to Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace.”
Angela Stevenson
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Wallsend, Tyne and Wear
“For services to Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Support in North East England.”
Angela Wooller
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Hailsham, East Sussex
“For services to Further Education.”
Ann Pike
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Livingston, West Lothian
“For service to the community and Third Sector in West Lothian.”
Anna Simmons
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Dunstable, Bedfordshire
“For services to Libraries.”
In the same field
Others recognised for Arts & Culture
Across the 2000–2026 honours lists in our records, 4,039 people have been recognised for Arts & Culture. See the full list →
Malorie Blackman
PersonDame Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Literature.”
Julia Catherine Donaldson
PersonDame Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Horsham, West Sussex
“For services to Literature.”
Cerys Matthews
PersonOfficer Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Bourne End, Buckinghamshire
“For services to Music.”
Jonathan Davies
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Swansea, West Glamorgan
“For services to People with Cancer and to Broadcasting.”
Mukesh Sharma
PersonOfficer Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Newtownabbey, County Antrim
“For services to Heritage.”
Alice Coote
PersonCommander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Suffolk
“For services to the Arts.”
Gabrielle Logan
PersonOfficer Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Buckinghamshire
“For services to Sports Broadcasting and to Charity.”
Daniel Calvert
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
“For services to the Culinary Arts in Japan and to UK/Japan Culinary Relations.”
Richard Starrs
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Stockton on Tees, North Yorkshire
“For services to Heritage.”
Jennifer Rose-miller
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Nairn, Nairn
“For services to Local Heritage and to the community in Nairnshire.”
Rita Lewis (helen Hopkins)
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Carmarthen, Dyfed
“For services to Music and Music Education.”
Paul Kitching
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Wimborne, Dorset
“For services to Museums and to the community in Tring, Hertfordshire.”
Adam Joolia
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Brighton, East Sussex
“For services to Young People and to Music.”
Julia Jones
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Carmarthenshire, Dyfed
“For services to Music.”
Pauline Hough
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Nantwich, Cheshire
“For services to Theatre and to the community in Nantwich.”
Margaret Irvine
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Birsay, Orkney
“For services to Drama and to the community in Orkney.”
Melanie Houldershaw
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Oxford, Oxfordshire
“For services to Local Theatre and Choir.”
Brian Heald
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Chester, Cheshire
“For services to Music and to the community in Chester, Cheshire.”
Shirley Henderson (shirley Mcgill)
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen
“For services to Drama.”
Rex Freeman
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
“For services to the Arts and to the community in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.”
James Fraser
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Dunblane, Stirling and Falkirk
“For services to Tourism and Heritage in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.”
John Fannon
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Weymouth, Dorset
“For services to Heritage.”
Helen Fannon
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Weymouth, Dorset
“For services to Heritage.”
Daniel Crow
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Southampton, Hampshire
“For services to Artists and to Arts and Heritage.”
Source & provenance
Where this record comes from
British Empire Medal · 2026
London Gazette (official record), issue 64940, notice 5029088. View the official notice ↗
Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list (New Year Honours List 2026).
Published 29 December 2025.
Location (Chester, Cheshire) comes from the Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list, not the Gazette notice, which records no recipient home location.
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