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New Year British Empire Medal holder Mrs Hazel Bates.

The New Year has brought pride and happiness to a trio of people in Burnley and district. They have been singled out for awards in the New Year honours list and have had the spotlight of publicity turned on them after years of unstinting work in their own particular fields. Fittingly women take the bulk of local honours and not least among them is housewife Mrs Hazel Bates, of Hufling Lane, who receives the British Empire Medal for her work with the parents' committee of the Burnley Sea Cadets. Mrs Marjory Maw, of Abbeyfields, Whalley, has also received recognition in the form of an MBE after years of unstinting work for hospital voluntary service. Burnley farmer Mr Jim Jackson, of Crow Wood House Farm, Burnley, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire after playing a vital role in the agricultural industry.

A British Empire Medal has been awarded to Mrs Hazel Bates, who for 17 years has been a mainstay of the Parents' Committee of Burnley Sea Cadets. It was Mrs Bates, of Hufling Lane, who re-formed the committee in 1958 and revived interest in the Sea Cadets movement among local parents. Her husband, Lieutenant Commander James Edward Bates, has been in charge of Burnley Sea Cadets since 1948, and together Mr and Mrs Bates have helped build the organisation into one of the most active and thriving youth groups in Burnley. Born in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, Mrs Bates met her Burnley husband when he was in the Royal Navy, and came to live in Burnley after her marriage. Mrs Bates has two married sons, Chief Petty Officer Edward Bates and Alwyn, who is a maintenance fitter at Kirkstall Gears, Burnley. A machine room supervisor for the Burnley printing firm of F. H. Brown, Mrs Bates never expected to be honoured. "It was a great surprise for me, but I feel proud not just for myself, but for all those who have helped make Burnley Sea Cadets into a flourishing organisation," she said.

She not only organises fundraising competitions, sales of work and sponsored events for the Cadets, but also takes an active part in the group's weekly meetings. Every Monday and Friday she helps her husband in handing out refreshments for the young Cadets at their Stanley Street headquarters. Mrs Bates, who is also a member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, is now busy helping to organise a sponsored tandem ride for the Cadets.