Jamaican Government Honours L&H Homes Chairman

News Section: Longhurst and Havelok Homes RSS Feed 
Publish Date: 07.10.2011
Author: R. Mills

Sidney McFarlane MBE, chairman of housing and care services provider L&H Homes, has been honoured by the Jamaican Government with The Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service for his 15 years of voluntary community service to the Jamaican Diaspora in England.

He was presented the award by the country’s Governor-General at the Ceremony of Investiture on October 17^th in Jamaica.

Sidney emigrated from the country to England in 1955. He has been working with the Jamaican Diaspora since 1996 and is currently the Lincolnshire representative. The Diaspora movement helps Jamaicans who live or work abroad engage in the development of their home country as well as providing them with extra support, should they need it.

Sidney’s role involves organising visits for the Jamaican High Commissioner’s tours of the UK and regularly attending meetings and conferences, giving motivational speeches at biannual meetings in London using his own experiences to encourage people to make the most of the opportunities that are available to them.  

Of the honour, Sidney said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have received such a distinguished award. The nomination was completely unexpected and it means a lot that it is from my home country.”

He added: “I’m really passionate about helping people achieve their full potential and believe that you should devote some of your life to helping others.”

This is not the first time that Sidney has been recognised for his work in the community. In February earlier this year he was presented with one of the highest honours that can be awarded to a layperson in the Catholic Church – the Bene Merenti Medal – by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, following recommendation from Bishop Malcolm, Bishop for the Diocese of Nottinghamshire. The Medal honours Sidney’s 20 years of voluntary work with the Lincolnshire Marriage Care Centre. The Centre, which is part of a nationwide relationship education and counselling organisation, provides help for couples with relationship difficulties. It also designs and runs programmes for couples preparing for marriage, and provides relationship and emotional literacy education resources for schools and youth organisations.

In 1999 Sidney was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the community and the Ministry of Defence following a 30-year career with the Royal Air Force, as well as his contribution to a paper on recruiting ethnic minorities to the defence services.