Modern Day Heroes
2010 - Hethersett’s Mr Sport Mel Perkins was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday honours in June 2010. Mel, who has just had his 70th birthday, was 60 at the time of the award which recognised his services to the sports of cycle speedway and football as the founder of both Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway Club and Hethersett Athletic Football Club. Mel started the Hawks club at the tender age of 16 in 1966 and is still closely involved with the club, having just taken over as chairman after many years of being club secretary. Over the years he has also worked tirelessly to promote cycle speedway at a national level. In 1991, Mel diversified his sporting interests by setting up Hethersett Athletic Football Club with just one youth team. Again his involvement in football has spilled over to county-wide administration of youth leagues. Today he is an honorary member of Hethersett Athletic Football Club and one of only two people to have won the prestigious Lee Thompson Memorial Trophy for outstanding service to the club on two occasions.
2013 - Hethersett stalwart Duncan Pigg was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2013 New Year's Honours list to mark over 60 years of active work in the village. Duncan, who is now in his nineties, stills lives in the village. For over 40 years, Duncan wrote and produced the annual Hethersett pantomime which has raised well over £100,000 for various charities. Duncan has also been a leading light in Hethersett musical circles and is a vice-president of Hethersett and Tas Valley Cricket Club, having played himself for many years. Duncan has been closely connected with the parish church as a licensed reader and choirmaster and is a former governor of Hethersett High School and Hethersett Woodside Infants and Nursery School.
2015 - Dr Anne Edwards was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year's Honours list for 2015. Dr Edwards, who is a Hethersett Parish Councillor and leading member of the Hethersett Environmental Action Team (HEAT), was awarded the honour for her work in the fields of science and the environment. Anne is a research scientist at the John Innes Institute and an authority on Ash Dieback Disease.
2010 - Hethersett’s Mr Sport Mel Perkins was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday honours in June 2010. Mel, who has just had his 70th birthday, was 60 at the time of the award which recognised his services to the sports of cycle speedway and football as the founder of both Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway Club and Hethersett Athletic Football Club. Mel started the Hawks club at the tender age of 16 in 1966 and is still closely involved with the club, having just taken over as chairman after many years of being club secretary. Over the years he has also worked tirelessly to promote cycle speedway at a national level. In 1991, Mel diversified his sporting interests by setting up Hethersett Athletic Football Club with just one youth team. Again his involvement in football has spilled over to county-wide administration of youth leagues. Today he is an honorary member of Hethersett Athletic Football Club and one of only two people to have won the prestigious Lee Thompson Memorial Trophy for outstanding service to the club on two occasions.
2013 - Hethersett stalwart Duncan Pigg was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2013 New Year's Honours list to mark over 60 years of active work in the village. Duncan, who is now in his nineties, stills lives in the village. For over 40 years, Duncan wrote and produced the annual Hethersett pantomime which has raised well over £100,000 for various charities. Duncan has also been a leading light in Hethersett musical circles and is a vice-president of Hethersett and Tas Valley Cricket Club, having played himself for many years. Duncan has been closely connected with the parish church as a licensed reader and choirmaster and is a former governor of Hethersett High School and Hethersett Woodside Infants and Nursery School.
2015 - Dr Anne Edwards was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year's Honours list for 2015. Dr Edwards, who is a Hethersett Parish Councillor and leading member of the Hethersett Environmental Action Team (HEAT), was awarded the honour for her work in the fields of science and the environment. Anne is a research scientist at the John Innes Institute and an authority on Ash Dieback Disease.