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A widow who set-up a food co-operative in memory of her late husband has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours list for services to the community.

Judith Climer, of Caerphilly, made a promise to her husband Michael, before he died in 2017, that she would get back out into the community and ‘make a difference’.

The Michael Climer Legacy Fund was duly set-up and this has provided food, supplies, and advice to hundreds of people from across Caerphilly County Borough and further afield.

Speaking to Caerphilly Observer last year, Judith explained: “Michael left a sum of money for me to help out the community in any way I could.

“It began in 2019 when I delivered food parcels once a week to local people. Then 2020 hit and I quickly realised that it wasn’t going to be enough.

“There was a time where I considered stopping but I remembered the promise I made so kept going. It was also incredibly rewarding.”

As a regular church goer with her late husband, Judith reached out to Holy Trinity Church in Ystrad Mynach, which agreed to host the food co-op.

“It was important to me that we set up a food co-op and not a food bank”, Judith said. “I didn’t want people to be ‘referred’ to us and feel embarrassed when everyone had been struggling”, she added.

Caerphilly MP Wayne David said Judith was an inspiration and that news of her honour had “made his Christmas”.

He said: “I am truly delighted that Judith’s hard work has been recognised in this way. With the people in the local community, Judith works tirelessly to make sure that the food co-operative helps many, many, people.”

Senedd Member for Caerphilly Hefin David also praised Judith’s work.

He said: “It’s brilliant to hear about Judith’s BEM. It’s so well-deserved given the work she’s done in our community.

“I’ve seen at first hand the food co-operative and support network at the church hall in Ystrad Mynach. What great news for the new year.”

The Chair of the South Wales Shire Horse Society, Malson Phillips, of Blackwood, has also been awarded a BEM in for services to Conservation.

The society was set up in 1983 by a group of people concerned about the decline of the Shire horse breed. This year saw its 40th annual show held in Abergavenny.

Also recognised as a Member of the British Empire in the honours list is consultant nurse Linda Edmunds, who leads the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation team which runs clinics across Gwent. 

Mrs Edmunds, who lives in Haverfordwest, has worked with the Gwent health board for the past seven years having joined the NHS in 1977 and worked in cardiac nursing since 1983, first in Cardiff and the Vale including clinics in Llandough and Barry. 

“It’s obviously lovely and not something you expect, but it’s nice to have been awarded it,” said Mrs Edmunds of the honour and said she has been involved since specialist services were developed in the early 1990s. 

Married for 38 years, the 64-year-old grandmother of two, said her husband Chris has “supported me throughout my career and I probably couldn’t have done it without him” and said she felt the “humbling” honour is an acknowledgement for “all the teams I’ve worked with”. 

Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.