A Wye Valley mum has been honoured with a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to Children and Young Adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Tracy Rowland, 58, from Magor and Undy founded the children’s charity Ready Steady Go that supports autistic children in Monmouthshire.The idea began when her eight-year-old son, Coby was diagnosed with autism and began to find life increasingly difficult.

The purpose of the club is to help develop social interaction and friendships by providing fun opportunities through supported play in a safe, comfortable, positive and considerate

environment that is suitable and purposeful for young children with Autism.

Tracey told the Beacon that she is “somewhat overwhelmed but incredibly honoured to have received this award.

“Coby is the reason why I started Ready Steady Go, so that he could enjoy activities in an environment that understood his needs. We have somehow grown to supporting 80 autistic children and their families across Monmouthshire.”

An MBE was awarded to the founder of Five Acres Garage, Robert ‘Bob’ Jenkins, for services to the community in the Forest of Dean.

Our sister paper, The Forester, reported in 2023 that his life was celebrated with a special event to mark his 50 years as a member of the Royal Forest of Dean Rotary Club.

The event, which was organised by the club to honour his service, also coincided with Bob’s 90th birthday and took the form of classic TV show “This Is Your Life”, with Malcolm Paterson hosting complete with red book, original music, and surprise guests.

Guests heard that during Bob’s National Service – and because he was a good mechanic – he seems to have spent most of his time repairing the officers’ cars. He left with a rank equivalent to sergeant..

Bob had heard that the site at Five Acres was up for sale, and he persuaded his father to loan him the £2,000 to buy the garage.

He had also met Norma Jones from Yorkley who came regularly and helped him serve petrol on the petrol pumps and liaised with the customers and in 1957 they married.

Bob had started off with an Austin agency, but was then offered the agency for Datsun cars, virtually unknown in the UK at that time, but Bob recognised the potential and was the first in Gloucestershire to sell Japanese cars. At one point he was employing over 200 people with five garages and car dealerships in three counties.

He and Norma lived on the garage site at Five Acres, until moving to St Briavels in 1969 then in 1971, moved to Christchurch where they still live.

Another MBE was awarded to Usk man Dr Kevin Palmer. Deputy Director Professional Learning, Pedagogy and Leadership, Welsh Government. For services to Education.

After qualifying as a teacher, Kevin worked in colleges across Wales. He has a wide range of experience in the public and private sectors in the UK as transformation lead and consultant on education transformation and regional school improvement, supporting leaders and teachers through processes of change and innovation, and looking at pedagogy and practice as the heart of school improvement. Kevin’s current research interests include initial teacher education, research, professional learning, leadership, professional standards and A levels.