Ballynahinch man given BEM by Lord Lieutenant

Ballynahinch man given BEM by Lord Lieutenant

14 November 2018

A BALLYNAHINCH man has been presented with the British Empire Medal.

Sam York was awarded the BEM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June for his services to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s Young Witness Service in Northern Ireland.

He was presented with the award recently by Mr David Lindsay, the Lord Lieutenant of Down.

Mr York, who is aged 76, has been volunteering with the Young Witness Service since 2010 and has worked in courts in Downpatrick, Newry, Craigavon, Belfast and Newtownards.

The father-of-four volunteered after reading about the Young Witness Service in the Down Recorder.

He said: “Throughout my life I’ve just been working and doing what I’ve always done — trying to do my best. So it’s really surprising that someone would nominate me for doing that.

“To be recognised like that is an honour and I’m very proud to get it, and also on behalf of the Young Witness service.”

The Young Witness Service, which is unique to Northern Ireland, uses trained volunteers who support children and their families throughout the court process from start to finish, helping them through the often traumatic experience of having to give evidence.

Last year alone volunteers supported 549 children across Northern Ireland and have worked with almost 2,000 children and young people in the past three years, running across all crown, magistrate’s and youth courts.

NSPCC Young Witness volunteer coordinator Billy Eagleson congratulated Mr York on receiving the award.

“We are delighted that Sam has received this much-deserved honour for his volunteering role within the service,” he said.

“Since Sam joined the Young Witness Service in 2010 he has been a dedicated member of the team and since 2015 alone has personally helped more than 100 children who have been affected by going through the court process.”