Mayor Rush congratulates Carol Hartley

Mayor of Rochdale Peter Rush has congratulated Carol Hartley after the news broke that she has been honoured as part of the Queen's New Year honours list.

Speaking to Rochdale Online, Mayor Rush said: “I am very pleased with the news. It is very well deserved. Carol, who lives in my ward, works very hard. I will be paying her a visit to congratulate her but I am very proud and it is some great news.”

Carol, who was also the 2012 Woman of Rochdale, has been honoured with a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her work for charitable services to Children in Eastern Europe and to the community in Heywood.

Carol said: “I was very happy to get the news. I am delighted but it isn’t just for me. It is for the hundreds of people who help me do what I do. I work with so many people that I wouldn’t know where to start.”

A BEM is awarded to those who show achievement or a contribution of a ‘hands on’ service to the community at a very local level. It can also be awarded for a contribution that has made a real difference in a community that has been achieved over a relatively short duration.

Carol is the coordinator of the Rochdale branch of the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child appeal. The appeal sends shoe boxes full of goods to orphans in Belarus and other parts of the world.

Carol also set up The Belarus Fund, helping orphaned children in Belarus, and the Borivos Abandoned Babies Home with friends.

Carol added: “It is a brilliant start to the new year. You can only do good and I have some really good friends who have helped me along the way.”

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/84561/carol-hartley-honoured