INSPIRATIONAL Stourbridge people have been recognised in the Queen's New Year Honours list.

Paralympians, a Royal Air Force engineer and a politician are all set to be awarded with their titles by her majesty during the coming year.

Shayne Hadland, who grew up in Wordsley and is a former student of The Kingswinford School, has been appointed a member to the ‘military division’ of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).

After leaving the school in 2007, with fairly good GCSE results, he had a short period of struggling through AS levels at Halesowen College before joining the RAF in 2008 to start an apprenticeship as an aircraft engineer.

During this time, he started competing in the World Skills competitions, designed to test individuals’ capability at their trade, and he was selected to be the aircraft engineer that would represent the United Kingdom.

Part of a 40 person strong Team UK, he competed in the world championships at Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2015, where, as the flag bearer on the opening ceremony, he also placed second in the world for his competition.

Now working at RAF Brize Norton, Shayne was nominated for an MBE due to his efforts working on the Puma aircraft, as well as the work he did to get to the World Skills championships in Brazil, and the reputation he has given the RAF in their engineering training.

His mother Julie, who still lives in Wordsley, said: “I am so proud of Shayne in everything that he has done. He is so deserving of his MBE.

“It came as a total shock to us all. He was told in November but didn’t tell the family until just before the honours list was announced. I don’t know how he managed to keep it to himself for so long!”

Teenage sporting star Lauren Rowles was awarded an MBE following her success in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, where she clinched a gold medal in the mixed double sculls, balancing her medal success with completing her A levels at King Edward VI College.

Her achievement is made even more remarkable considering that she had only taken up the sport a year earlier, previously having competed in the Commonwealth Games as a wheelchair track athlete.

Gold-medallist Lauren, 18, said: “Receiving an MBE is such an honour and tops off the most incredible year of my life. Thank you to everyone involved.”

Fellow Paralympian and former KEVI Helen Scott was also rewarded, this time for her services to Cycling.

Helen attended the Stourbridge town centre college from 2006 until 2008 and now acts as a pilot for her teammate Sophie Thornhill in the tandem kilo and sprint events.

Throughout the course of her career, she has won a multitude of medals at the world, Commonwealth and Paralympic level, most recently a gold and bronze at the Rio Paralympics.

Helen said: “I am hugely proud, but it would have been impossible without the team at British Cycling.”

Labour MEP for the West Midlands, Neena Gill, has been awarded CBE by her majesty for her parliamentary and political service.

Neena was first elected in 1999 till 2009, then re-elected in 2014 as the West Midlands Member of the European Parliament and sits as a member of the economic and monetary affairs committee, vice-chairman of the delegation for relations with India and is the only elected Sikh parliamentarian.

The MEP said: ‘’I am honoured and humbled by the recognition. I will continue to do my utmost for the West Midlands and make sure that voices in our region are heard in Europe and beyond.”