Royal honours awarded to local men

Fiona Howard • Published 7 Jan 2010 11:28 0 Comments

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Architect Gareth Hoskins is one of the local men to be recognised for his work.

A NUMBER of Helensburgh people have been named in the New Year Honours.

Among them is leading Scottish architect Gareth Hoskins who has been awarded an OBE.

He said this week: "It was a bit of a surprise.

"You don't hear whether you have got the award or not until the list is published.

"But you do get a letter some weeks before telling you that you have been put forward and asking if you will accept it, only they sent mine to the wrong address. The first I heard about it was when I got a phone call from the Cabinet Office two weeks ago asking why I hadn't replied."

Gareth, who lives with his wife and two children in Suffolk Street and who has recently been in the news for his work on the proposed new swimming pool project in Helensburgh, has no idea who nominated him or why. He is an advisor to the Royal Institute of British Architects and on the board of the Scottish Government's design 'watchdog' Architecture and Design Scotland.

In 2006 Gareth was appointed by the Scottish Government as National Healthcare Design Champion for Scotland.

Gareth does not know yet when or where he will receive his award but it could either be in London at Buckingham Palace or in Edinburgh at the Palace of Holyrood.

He said that his children are very excited but his daughter is apprehensive about visiting Buckingham Palace.

He added: "Its not every day you get to do that but I still don't know how I feel about it, it was all such a surprise."

A Royal Navy warrant officer from Cardross has been awarded an MBE and praised for his work as coxswain in helping to deliver the first-of-class hunter killer submarine HMS Astute.

Warrant Officer John Hendren, who now works at HMNB Clyde at Faslane, received his award for, in the words of his citation, "epitomising all that is best in a submarine coxswain, taking huge responsibility while remaining enthusiastic and dedicated."

The citation, issued by the Naval Secretary Rear Admiral C P R Montgomery, continued: "Faced with the many challenges in establishing a first-of-class ship's company from scratch, you demonstrated outstanding leadership, commitment and energy.

"You embraced new ideas and technology, playing a key role in the development of comprehensive training packages and tirelessly exploiting every opportunity to increase HMS Astute's operational capability."

An OBE also went to Martin Jenkins who has recently retired to Helensburgh from the MoD. He was for many years Depute Superintendent at Coulport before taking up his final MoD post in Bath.

He returned to Helensburgh when he retired last year.

TO FIND OUT MORE PICK UP A COPY OF THIS WEEK'S HELENSBURGH ADVERTISER - OUT NOW.

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