NewYearHonours: The extraordinary 'ordinary' people celebrated in 2019
He dedicated his award to the charities he has worked with and to his hometown, saying:"I just want to say I know there are so many who deserve this honour more than me, especially charities who are the real heroes of our community."
Mr Billinge has been made an MBE, but says he will accept the honour not for himself but for the 22,442 personnel who were killed on D-Day and during the battle for Normandy. Two Holocaust survivors have been awarded MBEs - honours which they say will drive them to keep teaching young people to"appreciate each other's faiths and beliefs".
She added:"In my opinion, it is very important that we don't just mourn our losses and our tragic events, but we should also mourn others going on now in the 21st century."There has been a terrible rise of all kinds of atrocities - it is very important to educate young people to love each other and to appreciate each other's faith and beliefs.
He now performs up to 100 shows a year to raise money for various charities, as well as continuing to sing for people in care homes. Lady Angela Lamport, 67, says she feels"overwhelmed" after being made an MBE for services to the Red Cross - which has seen her help those impacted by tragedies from Haiti to Libya to Grenfell.
Lady Angela said:"I went out to Haiti after the earthquake, where I saw the utter devastation and the work the Red Cross was doing to help rebuild livelihoods."That was totally unique and extraordinary, but the most heart-rending experience was helping some of the bereaved families after the fire at Grenfell Tower. I still think of them every day."
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