Lemn Sissay has been awarded an OBE, and has dedicated it to his younger self who overcame a “dehumanising” time in care.
The revered poet, author, broadcaster, and Chancellor of the University of Manchester was presented with the prestigious honour by Prince Charles during a ceremony at Windsor Castle yesterday, and admitted that his younger self who grew up in foster care and children’s homes in Wigan “would never have believed” he would become an OBE.
54-year-old Sissay – who was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics – received the honour for services to literature and to charity.
Throughout his career, Sissay has not only seen the publication of nine of his books, the production of seven plays, and four further radio plays, but he has also made an impact by detailing his experiences in the British care system in his autobiography of his early life – My Name Is Why.
Born in 1967 in Billinge to an Ethiopian mother shortly after she moved to England to study, Sissay spent a significant part of his early life in care.
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He was eventually taken into long-term foster care in Wigan, and named Norman Greenwood.
Well done to @lemnsissay on receiving an OBE for Services to Literature and to Charity.
📖 Sissay was 17 when he wrote his first poetry book. His work is now sculpted in granite, declaimed in over 30 countries, and was performed to millions as the poet of the London Olympics! pic.twitter.com/gcvX2IViAq
— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 16, 2022
In 1995, he made a BBC documentary, Internal Flight, about his life, and his one-man show Something Dark – which detailed how he was given up as a baby – was adapted for BBC Radio 3 in 2006.
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He became an MBE in the 2010 New Year Honours, and then took up his post as chancellor of the University of Manchester in 2015.
After receiving his honour for services to literature and charity from the Prince of Wales, Sissay said: “If I had said to him that one day you will be in Windsor Castle to receive an OBE from Prince Charles, I would never have believed that kind of magical story – almost fairy tale – would happen.”
Sissay was presented with the prestigious honour by Prince Charles during a ceremony at Windsor Castle / Credit: @ClarenceHouse (via Twitter)
He added: “If you can go to that boy – who lost his family, who left children’s homes at 18 years of age and didn’t know anybody for longer than a year at that age and had spent all of those Christmases alone – if you were going to say to that child that, ‘In your adulthood you are going to be honoured for what it is that you do and who it is that you are but you have got to turn it down…’
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“I just could not do that to him. This is a way of being able to honour service and what you were born to be. I was born to be a poet.
“The service is the work [I have done] for care leavers, and it has come from my own experience.”
Manchester Oxford Road station could close for more than two years for a major refurb
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s major central train stations could be set to close to the public for more than two years.
Hundreds of trains pass through Manchester Oxford Road each week, but that could soon be set to change, as Network Rail has today launched a public consultation on plans to carry out major upgrades at the station in a bid to “deliver improvements” for passengers and the wider rail network.
Upgrades include longer platforms, track and signalling improvements, and even the construction of a new station footbridge.
Proposed track layout and signalling improvements would reduce congestion by removing conflicting train movements, while overhead line equipment would also be upgraded, as well as over 900m of new track being laid.
Accessibility would also be improved throughout the station, with the proposed new footbridge increasing movement space for passengers and new lifts allowing step-free access to all platforms.
🛤️Big plans for Oxford Road!
Swipe through to see what’s in store for the future of Manchester’s transport➡️
Wider resurfaced platforms, and improvements to existing lifts are also planned.
Network Rail says the aim of the public consultation is to “give everyone the opportunity to review outline proposals” and to “provide their views” so that these can be taken into account and inform further design.
Feedback is being invited on all scheme elements – such as design, construction, and the impacts of the scheme on the rail network, environment and community.
Manchester Oxford Road station could close for more than two years for a major refurb / Credit: Northern
Speaking on the consultation as it launched today, Councillor Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We have said for a long time that Oxford Road Station is in need of a range of improvements from easing the congestion, increasing capacity, improving reliability and ensuring that the station is accessible for all commuters.
“Any future development will be a long-term project but infrastructure upgrades like these are essential if we are to continue growing Manchester as the leading city of the North.”
The first round of consultation will run up until 28 February, both online via the feedback form available at here, as well as at two drop-in events at Friends’ Meeting House, on Mount Street in the city centre, on Saturday 1 February from 11am-4pm, and Monday 17 February from 2pm-7pm.
A second round of consultation is due to take place before the end of 2025, and once both consultations have been considered, Network Rail is looking to submit the applications needed to build the scheme next year.
Featured Image – Network Rail
News
Public urged to use NHS services the ‘normal way’ after busiest winter week for jam-packed hospitals
Emily Sergeant
The public is being urged to use NHS services in ‘normal way’ this winter after hospitals experience their busiest winter week.
New data published by the NHS last week shows that more hospital beds were occupied during the first full week of the year (6-12 January 2025) than at any point so far this winter – with 97,636 adult general and acute hospital beds occupied, which equates to 96%.
In that same week, it was believed that almost one in seven occupied hospital beds (13,585) were taken up by patients who were fit to be discharged.
This meant it was officially the busiest week of the winter season so far for the NHS.
New NHS data reveals that last week saw the highest number of hospital beds occupied so far this winter, with 96% of adult general and acute beds in use.
Flu rates are still 3.5 times higher than last year, with 4,929 patients in hospital with flu on average each day of the week until 12 January, 1,112 patients across the UK were in hospital with COVID, and there was also 650 norovirus patients too, which is up 4% on the previous week and up a whopping 44% on last year.
With the cold weather set to continue and create “enormous pressure” on frontline services, it’s predicted that many hospitals could declare critical incidents.
While the NHS says it did learn from last year, and put in place measures to manage extra demand this time around, including upgraded 24-hour co-ordination centres, support for frequent users of A&E services, strengthening same day emergency care, providing more care in the community, and delivering 29 million vaccines since the autumn, there’s still more that needs to be done.
The public is being urged to use NHS services the ‘normal way’ after its busiest winter week / Credit: Pxhere
Professor Julian Redhead, who is the National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care at the NHS, said it’s “vital” that the public uses the health service in the “normal way” over the coming months.
“While it is encouraging news that flu cases are no longer increasing, hospitals are not out of the woods yet,” Professor Redhead said.
“Staff are working incredibly hard in sometimes challenging surroundings, but winter viruses are much higher than usual for this time of year, and this coupled with the cold snap and problems discharging patients means hospitals are jam-packed with patients – even as more beds have been opened to manage increased demand.
“With pressures on hospitals still formidable, it’s vital people continue to use NHS services in the normal way.
“[This means] using 111 and 111 online if you need advice and support for health conditions, and only using 999 or attend A&E in life-threatening emergencies.”
Emily Sergeant -
17th March 2022 
