Six deputy lieutenants appointed in the West Midlands
The Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands, Mr John Crabtree OBE, has announced the appointment of six new deputy lieutenants for the West Midlands whose backgrounds range from music to education, entrepreneurship, and tackling homelessness.
Each of the six individuals has already contributed significantly to either national life, to their local communities - or both. The new appointments bring the total of Deputy-Lieutenants in the West Midlands to 64.
The appointments are:
- Pauline Black OBE, musician and author, Coventry
- Afzal Hussain, social enterprise champion, Birmingham
- Professor Monder Ram OBE (pictured), ethnic minority entrepreneurship, Birmingham
- Jatinder Sharma OBE, further education and skills, Walsall
- Jean Templeton, homelessness and support for young adults, West Midlands
- Dawn Ward CBE, technical vocational education, Birmingham
The new appointees will support the Lord-Lieutenant - Her Majesty 's personal representative in the West Midlands - in several ways including attending on Royalty during official visits to the County, representation at citizenship ceremonies, supporting the armed forces of the Crown particularly the reserve and cadet forces, encouraging charitable and voluntary work and local initiatives to benefit the community, as well as promoting and encouraging nominations for Honours and Queen 's Awards for the County of the West Midlands.
John Crabtree OBE said the six appointments came at a pivotal time for the West Midlands which this year is on the national and world stage with Coventry as UK City of Culture and the region hosting the Commonwealth Games in July and August - as well as participating fully in the Queen 's Platinum Jubilee.
He said: “The West Midlands is this year welcoming visitors from throughout the world and the West Midlands Lieutenancy is committed to supporting and representing every community in the County. As the second largest lieutenancy in England and Wales and home to nearly 3 million residents, the enthusiasm and additional reach of these quite excellent new Deputy Lieutenants will complement the great work of my existing team and I am so much looking forward to working with them. ”