Shrewsbury man made an MBE at Buckingham Palace for adoption work with Shropshire Council
A Shropshire Council employee had an appointment at the Palace to be made an MBE.
Mike Roughan, the chair of Shropshire Council’s and Telford & Wrekin Council’s Joint Adoption Service, was at Buckingham Palace on Friday to receive his honour for his services to children and the community as part of the Queen’s New Year Honours List.
The 68-year-old, who lives in Hanwood, said he was “hugely honoured” to meet the Queen, who he said was clued up on what he had been doing.
“It is a real honour, I am very pleased,” he said.
“I got into this work because I wanted to do it and I enjoy it and someone felt I should be given an award and I am very grateful for that.
“It came as a monstrous surprise back in November.
“I received the award from the Queen, she was very clued up on what I had done.
“I felt very privileged to meet her and hugely honoured. For me though, I could not have got this award without the work of all the people that make my job possible.”
Mike has chaired the panel for more than a decade, as well as acting as a school governor and parish councillor.
He said: “While this is great for me, it is also good for adoption generally as it keeps it in people’s minds.”
The joint adoption service strives to find the right homes for children needing an adoptive family, as well as offering an excellent service to adoptive parents.
Its priority is to find safe, stable and loving adoptive families who can meet the needs of the children in its care and this is something that the councils lead on.
Both Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council have consistently been two of the very best performing authorities in the UK, in achieving successful adoptive placements well within the required timescales. This is particularly significant when there continues to be national focus on “adoption being a too-lengthy process”.
