Here are all the Hastings, St Leonards and Bexhill people honoured in the King’s New Year Honours List

The King’s New Year Honours List includes recipients who have made exceptional contributions to their local communities and the country as a whole.

This year, seven people in Hastings, St Leonards and Bexhill out of a total of 192 in the South East received honours.

Photographer Giles Duley has been awarded an MBE for services to survivors of conflict and to the community in St Leonards.

He is a documentary photographer who stepped on an IED while working in Afghanistan, resulting in him losing both legs and his left arm.

Mr Duley was in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan with US troops in February 2011 working as a freelancer for the Camera Press agency when he stepped on a landmine.

He intended to cover the plight of bomb victims while working for the Camera Press agency but snapped up the chance to join frontline troops in Afghanistan, and had been in the war-torn country for less than two weeks when he was wounded.

The photographer underwent months of physiotherapy and countless operations following the incident. He now has two prosthetic legs and a prosthetic left arm. In 2012 he returned to Afghanistan to continue his work as a photographer.

In 2015 he started his Legacy of War project, which looks to explore common themes of conflict. A core part of the project is collaborations with other artists and writers to reach a wider audience. These collaborations have included the musicians Massive Attack and PJ Harvey.

In 2016 he was commissioned by the UNHCR to document the refugee crisis across Europe and the Middle East, the result of which was the book I Can Only Tell You What My Eyes See and a collaboration with Massive Attack which saw the band use his work as visuals for their world tour.

In 2017 he set up The Legacy Of War Foundation charity to support survivors of conflict around the world. The foundation also trains prosthetists in conflict zones to ensure that civilians who are injured have access to experts in their communities. The organisation works in Rwanda, Ukraine and Lebanon.

He started his career as a music photographer, working with the likes of Mariah Carey, Oasis and Lenny Kravitz for publications including Q, Vogue, Sunday Times and Elle. In 2000 his image of Marilyn Manson was voted among the 100 greatest rock photographs of all time.

Mr Duley said: “On a personal level I was uncomfortable accepting the MBE but I saw this as recognition for everything Legacy of War Foundation does.

“Over the last few years we’ve become one of the fasting growing NGOs in the world with ongoing projects in Rwanda, Ukraine and Lebanon. During Covid we also supplied PPE and a free taxi service to NHS staff in Hastings.

“Our projects are led by our partners and beneficiaries, so before accepting the award I reached out to them to seek their opinions. So this MBE is really a tribute to all those we work with, and a recognition for communities around the world empowering themselves after conflict.”

Taban Shoresh, founder and chief executive officer of The Lotus Flower, and from St Leonards, has been awarded an OBE for services to refugees and displaced conflict Survivors in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

With a political activist father during the reign of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the 1980s, Taban and her family were imprisoned when she was just four before they narrowly escaped being buried alive and were flown out of the country by Amnesty International to build a new life in the UK.

She later worked in an investment asset management company in London, but in April 2014, everything changed when she saw ISIS waging another genocide in the land of her birth. Giving up her career, she returned to Iraq as an aid worker, and upon arrival was delivering provisions to displaced Yezidis trapped on Mount Sinjar.

Back in London in 2016, she launched the Lotus Flower. What started with just her, then her regional manager and a burnt-out cabin in a refugee camp has since grown to be an organisation with several safe centres for women and girls, as well as more than 200 local staff.

To date the organisation has helped more than 60,000 women, girls and community members through the delivery of projects which support business, education, peacebuilding, well-being and human rights.

On learning of her award, Taban said: “I’m very happy and honoured with this recognition. I came here as a refugee at the age of six seeking safety. Fast forward many years and I’m delighted that I get the opportunity to give back and help those in need. I believe with more compassion, empathy and action we can all be change makers in this world.”

Others to get an MBE include Diana Jane Andrews Cunningham, from Hastings, a peer trainer at Sussex Recovery College, for services to mental health, and Gaynor Jean Ripley, from St Leonards, a partnership manager for the Department for Work and Pensions, for public service.

Those who have been named as medallists of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) are Harbaksh Singh Grewal, from Hastings, who is vice-chair of the UK Punjab Heritage Association, for services to Punjabi and Sikh heritage, and to charity, Nicola June Hawkins, of Bexhill, for services to the community in Hastings and Rother, and Felicity Ann De Grave Hills, for services to the community in Hastings.