Bank manager from Gosport 'overwhelmed' by Queen's Honour list award for her work during coronavirus lockdown

Lisa Griffiths, who lives in Elson and manages the Barclays branches in Bishop’s Waltham and Chandlers Ford, has been made a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire (BEM).

The award recognises her work to support her family, her staff, and the wider community while her father was fighting for his life due to a Covid-19 infection and her mother was undergoing intensive cancer treatment.

From weekly deliveries of care-packages for the staff treating her father at Queen Alexandra to well-being sessions for the staff at the Barclays branches, the mum-of-two has endeavoured put others first – but she couldn’t believe she was being honoured by the Queen.

The 35-year-old said: ‘I got the email and I thought it was spam, so I just ignored it.

‘When I read it again, I had to google the Home Office contact to check it was real.

‘It took about three hours to sink in.’

‘This wasn’t about me – it was about me and my whole team.’

Lisa praised her Barclays team for their help with bake-sales and fundraising runs to support the ‘amazing’ ICU team at Queen Alexandra hospital, who she credits for saving her father’s life.

Her 62-year-old father, Melvin Slepcevic, spent six weeks in a coma after being diagnosed with Covid-19 in March – with Lisa and her family being told he was unlikely to survive his first 48 hours in hospital.

She said: ‘He was on 100 per cent oxygen, he had significant bleeds, he suffered kidney failure – all I wanted to do was see him and I couldn’t.’

SEE ALSO: Family concerned for welfare of missing 62-year-old Portsmouth man with dementia who was last seen near Queen Alexandra Hospital

But Lisa was able to overcome the restriction on visitors by securing a donation of 10 bluetooth speakers and 20 iPads from Barclays, allowing patients across the ICU to see and speak with their loved ones.

Lisa said: ‘The first time they tried to wake my dad up from the coma he was heavily sedated, but he he heard my mum’s voice he moved and seemed to recognise her – the whole family was there and we were in bits.

‘We think that kept him going.

With Lisa’s parents now recovering at home, she added: ‘I can’t thank enough all the staff across Barclays and the NHS.’

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