Perthshire's finest recognised in King's Birthday Honours List

Dnipro Kids founder and chairman Steven Carr has been awarded an MBE for services to children in Ukraine and support to the Ukrainian community in Scotland.

Steven - who also now serves as a Perth and Kinross councillor - was among a prestigious selection of people across Perth and Kinross listed in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024 Overseas and International List.

He has been awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and says he was both humbled and taken aback by the news.

It comes just a month after he was awarded the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s (RSGS) Livingstone Medal - awarded for outstanding services of a humanitarian nature - for his charity’s work helping Ukrainian orphan
families.

Steven was among a prestigious selection of people across Perth and Kinross listed in the King’s Birthday Honours 2024 Overseas and International List.

He first heard the news from a friend messaging to congratulate him on Saturday morning.

Steven said: “It’s all a bit surreal, if I’m honest. It’s still trying to sink in. I’m just blown away.

“I’m over the moon and really humbled by it and taken aback. I’m just sorry my mum’s not here to see it. She was always really supportive of my work.”

Steven was raised by his mum on a council estate in Edinburgh. He now lives in Perthshire and serves as a Strathallan ward SNP councillor on Perth and Kinross Council.

The Hibs fan founded Dnipro Kids in 2005 after his side played Dnipro in the UEFA Cup. The charity has been supporting orphans in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine ever since.

In March 2022 - following the Russian invasion of Ukraine - Steven heroically drove a bus full of Ukrainian orphans and their carers across Europe to safety in Scotland. And since 2022, he has worked tirelessly to help support Ukrainians who have settled in Scotland.

Meanwhile, Perth fireman Ross Haggart has been awarded the King’s Fire Service Medal (KFSM).

Chief Officer Haggart took up his latest post in March last year after holding the role on an interim basis for several months.

He has held a range of roles since first becoming a firefighter in 1994, at the age of 20, working across the Tayside and Fife areas and recently announced his intention to retire.

He has two daughters Brooke, 19, and Robyn, 17, with his wife Debbie, who is a principal teacher.

He said: “It’s been an honour to hold the Chief Officer role and I am delighted to be recognised with a King’s Fire Service Medal at this stage in my career.

“I would like to thank everyone for their support throughout the past 30 years.

“It’s been a privilege to dedicate my life and career to keeping communities safe.

“I know the Service has a strong sense of direction that will continue into the future.”

Alistair Phillips-Davies of Perth-based SSE and St Andrew’s University Professor Terence Kenneth Smith have been made Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the energy industry and services to disease research, respectively.

Professor Smith is the director at the prestigious university’s Biomedical Sciences research complex, while Mr Phillips-Davies has committed SSE to more than £40 billion of investment over the next 10 years towards the transition to net zero.

He oversaw the sale of SSE’s retail energy supply business to Ovo Energy in 2019, and has repositioned the Perth-based firm as one of the most significant electricity infrastructure players.

Chair of the National Theatre for Scotland, Jane Wyman Spiers, has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Culture in Scotland.

In a career in the arts spanning more than 40 years, Jane Spiers has been a producer, programmer, festival director, event manager and cultural policy adviser.

She was the inaugural chief executive of Horsecross Arts in Perth from 2003 to 2012.

She was also made an honorary fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland in 2016 for her contribution to the cultural environment in Scotland as project lead for four capital projects including Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre.

Jillian Lorna Hastings Ward of Genomics England received an MBE for services to patients and participants in UK Genomics.

Comrie man James MacAra, Scout Leader of 5th Perthshire (Crieff) Scout Group was awarded an MBE For services to scouting and to the community in Crieff, Perth and Kinross.

Community volunteer George Templeton Lawrie received an MBE for services to rural Perthshire.