The chief executive of the British Red Cross, who lives near Stroud, was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the humanitarian sector and the Red Cross Movement on Thursday.

Michael Adamson, who joined the Red Cross in 2010, has dedicated 40 years of his career to the cause of humanity, winning him great respect in the UK and internationally from his peers.

He is a key advocate of the Voluntary Community Sector Emergencies Partnership, a collective of 230 local and national organisations supporting those most in need in an emergency.

He became chair in 2019 and under his leadership, the partnership worked with government during the pandemic to support vulnerable people who are lonely, unable to access food and medicines, or are at risk because they are homeless or in the asylum system.

“I’ve been part of the Red Cross for many years and had so many proud moments as CEO from seeing the individual kindness of our volunteers to our response to the 2017 terror attacks and the Grenfell Tower Fire to seeing our international movement in action in some of the most difficult places in the world,” said Mr Adamson.

“Seeing the value of our support to the people deeply affected by these crises is so moving.

“At our best, all our teams – services, fundraising, communications, advocacy, people, finance, technology – work as one team.

“Every year we strive to use our learning to get better and improve our response to subsequent crisis – and now the pandemic. We are needed more than ever before”

“I would like to use this as an opportunity to thank British Red Cross staff and volunteers who have worked so tirelessly since the start of the pandemic,” he added.

David Bernstein, CBE, chair of the British Red Cross board of trustees, said: “We would like to offer our sincerest congratulations to Mike on behalf of the British Red Cross for his recently awarded CBE. We are delighted and proud that his work has been recognised on a national level.

“We are so proud of the service that Mike has given to the British Red Cross, especially during the organisation’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

“This has been an exceptionally difficult 15 months and we were both impressed by the perseverance and commitment Mike has shown during these challenging times.

“Thank you, Mike, for the tremendous hard work and dedication that you have provided over the years. These honours are extremely well deserved and we send our warmest congratulations.”