A Winscombe resident and former Skills for Care operations director and interim CEO, Andy Tilden, has been awarded an OBE for services to social care in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Skills for Care CEO Oonagh Smyth said: "Everybody at Skills for Care is delighted that Andy Tilden has been awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list and we're sure everyone he has worked with throughout his career will welcome this well-deserved award.

"Andy has worked as a social worker in North Somerset, a lecturer for Weston College and a training manager in the NHS in Bristol.

"This award recognised his outstanding contribution to developing skills and knowledge of the adult social workforce, and as Andy is keen is point out it's also a recognition of the support he has received from colleagues since he first qualified as a social worker.

"Andy did a fantastic job as our acting CEO for a year during a time of great change for our sector, but more that his award acknowledges the outstanding work done by well trained and motivated care workers in our communities, particularly over the last year."

Andy remains a trustee of Community Catalysts and the Covid-19 Healthcare Support Appeal as well as being a non-executive director of Training Now which is a training company and part of the Agincare group based On Portland in Dorset.

Andy says that while he is honoured and humbled by the award, it feels very undeserved compared to the very difficult work that many social care workers experienced during the Covid pandemic and he is accepting the reward as a way of shining the light on the often unrecognised, unrewarded yet very skilled work that social care workers undertake.