The chair of Oxfordshire cycling campaign group Cyclox and the President of the City Road Club (Hull) have both been recognised in the New Year Honours List, published today.
Cyclox chair Dr Alison Hill (pictured above) has been awarded an MBE for services to cycling due to her campaigning efforts spanning almost two decades, including chairing the national cycle training provider Bikeability until stepping down from that role earlier this year.
The former public health doctor previously sat on the board of Cycling England from 2005 until it was abolished in 2011.
Dr Hill, who was hospitalised with a serious leg injury in October following a crash involving a coach as she rode her bike at Oxford’s notorious Plain roundabout, has been prominent in campaigning for safer roads in the city and the surrounding area following the deaths of three women while cycling during 2022, one at the same location where she was injured.
Reacting to being included on the New Year’s Honours List, she told BBC News Oxfordshire that her campaigning work “has been my life's passion for many years now.”
Dr Hill has previously been included on Cycling UK’s annual 100 Women In Cycling list.
Meanwhile Betty Philipson, President of City Road Club (Hull), has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to cycling and the community in East Yorkshire.
Aged 92, she has been involved with the club since it was founded more than half a century ago in 1966, reports Hull Live.
“In my time at the club I've been a secretary, a time-keeper and now the president,” she said. “I'm not so good on my feet now but I'm still here. It was quite a shock but I feel honoured to get this medal. I have received Yorkshire awards before but you just don't expect something like this for yourself.
“I have managed to keep it quiet but the family members that know are very happy for me. I hopefully will be able to go to Buckingham Palace for the garden party,” she added.