MBE for Edington woman in Queen’s birthday honours

AN EDINGTON woman has been made an MBE for her services to the village community and to vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the Middle East.

Joanna Robertson says she feels honoured to be named in the Queen’s birthday honours, which were announced on Saturday. Twelve years ago Joanna became a trustee of BibleLands, a charity which supports Christian-led humanitarian projects in the Middle East. Since then, she has been on 14 trips to the region to get closer to the work the charity does.

Closer to home, she is very involved with Edington Priory Church and has been a churchwarden for six years. She is also a big supporter of the Edington Music Festival. Joanna spent 30 years as a magistrate in Wiltshire and now works with the Wiltshire Youth Offending Service, helping young people who have been through the courts. She has also been involved with the Wiltshire and Avon Mental Health Care Trust for many years.

Joanna said, “It feels very humbling to be honoured, it really, really does. Anything I’ve ever done has been with other people, in a team. I feel very humbled to have been singled out for the honour, it should be a group honour.

“I couldn’t believe it when I first read the letter! It says that I will be invited to attend an investiture within the next six months.”