A BOLTON born charity worker has been awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list.

60-year-old Roger Smith has worked for the British Red Cross in a variety of roles for more than 20 years and is currently the charity’s director of people and learning.

The father of one was born in the Royal Bolton Hospital in Farnworth and spent his first five years of life living with his parents at a house in Tonge Moor Road.

He then moved with his father down to London, where he went on to become a teacher and gained a headship at the young age of 30.

After ten years in the role, he decided to take on a different challenge and joined the British Red Cross in 1993, initially as its head of training..

In his current role, Mr Smith covers the vital areas of learning and development, human resources, volunteering, organisational development, employee relations, security and the carbon reduction programme.

He said he was shocked and humbled to be told he would be receiving the OBE for his work.

He said: “It is a very nice thing to be recognised in this way and certainly a lovely way to end the year — it is really flattering and is a positive reflection on the Red Cross as a whole and how we all work as a team.”

Mr Smith’s wide remit has included the unifying of the society from 120 separate charities into one single unit and he was also acting CEO for a time.

He added: “I‘ve worked with some great people both in and outside the charity, and having this job is a real privilege, it lets me work with the most committed and dedicated people you could imagine.

“The most rewarding part of my role is knowing I make just a small contribution to enabling our volunteers and staff to do their wonderful work with people in crises.”

British Red Cross chief executive Mike Adamson said: “We couldn’t be more pleased for Roger – he really deserves this recognition and it’s great to see his years of hard work and dedication being rewarded like this.”

He said he is looking forward to a trip to Buckingham Palace, before getting back to the job in hand, with no plans of putting his feet up just yet.

He added: “This job has given me an enormous amount of pleasure and I think I have got a few years left in me yet.”