A volunteer at The Royal Star & Garter Homes has collected his British Empire Medal at the Tower of London.
John Parvin was awarded the medal in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for voluntary service to Veterans, and received it at a ceremony on Friday 5 April.
John with his BEM outside the Tower of London
It capped a memorable few months for the 83-year-old, who also received a special community award from the Mayor of Kingston along with his wife Lesley, her sister Shirley Pass, and Shirley’s husband Terry Pass. Together, they have been volunteering at The Royal Star & Garter Homes since 1993, giving collectively nearly 100 years to the Charity, and received the group award from Kingston Mayor Thay Thayalan last month.
Terry and Shirley were unable to attend that ceremony, so a special tea party was held at the Surbiton Home on Tuesday 9 April, where all four were thanked by staff and residents, and John was congratulated for his BEM.
Afterwards, John said:
“It was a brilliant party and we were touched that so many residents and staff were there, it was a lovely gesture. All four of us found it very humbling.”
The Royal Star & Garter Homes cares for ex-Servicemen and women and their partners living with disability or dementia.
For further information please contact:
Goolistan Cooper
Communications Officer
e: goolistan.cooper@starandgarter.org
t: 0208 481 7669 / 07391 868796
Cally Madden
Marketing & Communications Manager
e: cally.madden@starandgarter.org
t: 020 8481 7692 / 07881 017299
About The Royal Star & Garter Homes
The Charity provides award-winning care for military veterans and their partners who live with disability or dementia.
The Royal Star & Garter Homes was founded in 1916 to care for the severely injured men returning from the battlegrounds of the First World War.
Today our friendly, state-of-the-art Homes offer a pioneering approach to nursing, dementia and therapeutic care. We have award-winning Homes in Solihull, West Midlands, and Surbiton, Surrey. Our third Home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, opened in April 2019.
We continue to expand our services to reach even more veterans. In 2018, we were able to support 186 residents in our Homes and 36 guests at our Day Care service. We provided 11,700 individual sessions of physiotherapy and speech & language therapy last year to support our residents’ health, and over 5,600 places to residents for activities, outings and events, to promote well-being.
We are proud to have enjoyed Royal patronage since our foundation, including that of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II from 1953 to the present day.
Twitter: @starandgarter
Facebook: facebook.com/starandgarter
Website: www.starandgarter.org
The Royal Star & Garter Homes is a member of the National Care Forum – the leading voice for not-for-profit care providers. A national perspective may be available from info@nationalcareforum.org.uk or by contacting 02476243619. More details on NCF available at www.nationalcareforum.org.uk.
