Gosport nursery manager ‘amazed’ after being recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours list

Shirley Ann Faichen, who is manager and co-founder of Alverbridge Nursery in Gosport, has been made an MBE after dedicating her working life to early years education.

Shirley, 65, said: ‘I was really surprised when I got the email and I didn’t know whether to believe it. It’s really lovely to be recognised for the work you have done over the years.’

The recognition means even more to Shirley after being nominated by the nursery’s parents’ committee.

‘I’ve worked in early years all my life and it’s amazing to have been appreciated by the parents of the children I’ve cared for,’ said Shirley.

After 23 years managing the Gosport nursery, Shirley still loves the day to day involvement of working with the children.

She said: ‘I love being part of the children’s journey. It’s great to see the joy on their faces when they learn something knew and I always laugh at the funny things they say.’

The dedicated early years manager was supposed to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace to be made an MBE but this has now been postponed due to ongoing Covid restrictions.

‘Hopefully I will get to enjoy the celebration at some point,’ added Shirley.

SEE ALSO: St Vincent College principal concerned for youngsters after axing of open evenings

Another who has been made an MBE is deputy chief executive of the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, Lee Miller. In his role with the trust, Lee helps oversee a number of Portsmouth Schools including Isambard Brunel Junior School, Portsmouth Academy and Meon Infant and Junior Schools.

One of Lee’s roles has been in transforming the financial fortunes of struggling schools.

Lee said: ‘This is very much an honour for every single person who works at Thinking Schools.’

Chief executive Stuart Gardner said: ‘I’m delighted for Lee - this honour is richly deserved. His work over the last seven years has been instrumental in the trust’s progress and, more importantly, he has played a central role in helping us provide a fantastic education to tens of thousands of children and young people so that they can go on to live successful lives.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.