Lisa Kay, a social sciences undergraduate at The University of Warwick has been bestowed with the prestigious British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year Honours list.

The honour is in recognition of her charity work and services to refugees after raising more than £6,000 for people escaping the war in Ukraine and hosting a family from Kyiv in her home for a year. She has also done collections for local charities.

“I do a lot of collections for Foleshill community centre in Coventry including goodies at Christmas and Easter as well as collecting brand new slow cookers to allow those using food banks to be shown how to make meals using cheaper ingredients. I also became involved in a social media group called postcards of kindness whereby retirement homes for the elderly could sign up to have us write postcards to them and they would write back. As a result, I’ve continued this for a number of years and now have pen pals all around the world.”

Lisa received the news of her well-deserved BEM just days before undergoing major brain surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumour. Reflecting on the surprising moment she discovered the recognition, Lisa shared, “I received the letter regarding the BEM two days before my surgery and I was absolutely flabbergasted and when I learned of the work that had gone into it I broke down in tears and was quite overwhelmed at the number of people who had supported me and made it happen”.

Lisa's academic journey at the University of Warwick began after her retirement from service management. Currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in social studies, she envisions continuing her academic pursuits with a master's and ultimately a PhD.

As Lisa continues her recovery at home, the University of Warwick extends heartfelt congratulations to her for this well-deserved honour and wishes her a speedy and full recovery.

ENDS

For more information please contact:
Kat Beauchamp
katherine.beauchamp@warwick.ac.uk I 07880175408