A WOMAN whose Stourbridge school helps ‘disengaged’ youngsters get ‘back on track’ has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours. Janet Lear is the founder and head teacher of the Black Country Wheels School based on the Gainsborough Trading Estate in Stourbridge’s Rufford Road. The school evolved from “The Wheels Project”, which was instigated by Jan in 1999. She listened to the needs of the young people she worked with and presented them with a learning platform that they were interested in, engaging them in life skills and improving their chances of future employment. The Black Country Wheels Project was formed in 2003.
COVID hero Louise Hadley has been awarded a BEM in the New Year’s Honours for the work she did to support customers and staff at her M&S store during the pandemic. The Wordsley mum has a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude to looking after her shoppers and colleagues and has gained her award for services to customers and the community. During lockdown Louise, a section manager at M&S Simply Food in Harborne, regularly went to work hours before her shift started to do shopping for customers who were unable to leave their homes due to Covid-19. She took calls from customers at home and then came into store with their shopping lists, doing their shopping for them and delivering it to their doorsteps before starting her own day job.