The Queen tells of people making ‘good news’

Press, 26 December 1985, Page 2

The Queen tells of people making ‘good news’

NZPA-AP London The Queen concentrated on the “good news” in her Christmas message broadcast yesterday. Television showed her sitting at her desk in Buckingham Palace with the day's newspapers in front of her and declaring: “Looking at the morning newspapers, listening to the radio and watching television, it’s only too easy to conclude that nothing is going right in the world.”

All this year there seemed to have been nothing but bad news, with a constant stream of reports of plane crashes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and famine — and, as if natural disasters were not enough, there were also riots, wars, acts of terrorism, and generally news of man’s inhumanity to man. “It used to be said that ‘no news is good news' but today you might well think that ? good news is no news’,” the Queen said. A lot of good news and some wonderful things were going on in spite of the frightening headlines, she said.

Film was shown of an investiture early this month at Buckingham Palace. The Queen reminded viewers of the quiet courage and dedication of men and women who worked to restore shattered lives and disrupted communities. She said that she was in the fortunate position of meeting many people who came to investitures to be honoured for bravery or to be recognised for service to their fellow citizens.

“They come from all walks of life and they don’t blow their own trumpets; so unless, like me, you are able to read the citations describing what they have done, you could not begin to guess at some of the remarkable stories that lie behind their visits to the Palace.” The cameras then showed six recipients of honours — representatives of the 2000 people who receive awards each year. The six were Dr Laurence Pike, a Birmingham general practitioner who received the M.8.E.; Mr Braham Myers, who also received the

M.8.E., for services to the British Limbless Ex-Ser-vicemen’s Association in Bradford and Leeds; Miss Margaret Pilbeam, a nurse with the Eastbourne Health Authority who received the 0.8. E.; Mrs Evelyn Morris, of the Gloucestershire Women’s Royal Voluntary Service, who received the M.8.E.; and two members of the Dyfed County Fire Brigade, Divisional Officer Michael George and Simon Terence Langdon, each decorated with the Queen’s Gallantry Medal. The Queen said that among those receiving awards there might be an outstanding doctor who had worked for years in a deprived area, or a voluntary worker who had given nearly 40 years to campaigning for the disabled; a nurse whose care for her patients over 30 years was a splendid example of the work done by members of a dedicated profession; or a W.R.V.S. volunteer who had devoted a large part of her life to others. Then there were those who had shown quite remarkable courage and devotion to duty, such as two firemen who had been called to a blazing ship. They knew there were casualties below decks: and although both injured themselves they risked the flames and smoke and further explosions to bring casualties to safety. These were not exceptional cases, said the Queen. “Every investiture brings stories of bravery and self-

sacrifice, like the members of bomb-disposal teams whose cool courage saves so many lives.” Naturally she saw more such people in Britain. But as she often held investitures in other Commonwealth countries, she knew there were people making the same sort of good news throughout the world.

While bravery and service to the community were recognised by honours and awards, there were many ways in which people could make good news, the Queen said.

People who had helped their companies to success had also come to the Palace as winners of the Queen’s Awards for Export and Technology — for instance a firm, with only five employees, which made darts and exported them to 40 countries.

' “They were so enterprising that they introduced the game of darts into places where it had never been played,” said the Queen. There were “masses” more examples. These success stories, so often pushed into the background, were the guarantee of the future. The Queen said, “Christmas is a time of good news. I believe it is a time to look at the good things of life and to remember that there are a great many people trying to make the world a better place, even though their efforts may go unrecognised.

“There is a lesson in this for us all and we should never forget our obligation to make our own individual contributions, however small, towards the sum of human goodness.” The story of ’ the Good Samaritan was a reminder of one’s duty to one’s neighbour.

“We should try to follow Christ’s clear instruction at the end of that story: ‘Go and do thou likewise’.”

The Queen expressed the hope that all her subjects would try to make some good news in the coming year.

The Queen’s message was beamed by satellite to Europe and Scandinavia for the first time.