MBEs galore for Royal High School Bath!

In June we were thrilled to hear that a former member of staff and a former student of the Royal High School have been named as recipients of MBEs in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Ruth Sara, who taught Science at the Royal High School (and previously at Bath High School) for over 30 years and is currently our Deputy Chair of Governors, will be presented her award in honour of her services to young people in the South West. This is in recognition of her astonishing commitment to Girl Guiding which has seen her travel the world and inspire women far and wide.

Since the 1970s, Ruth has led the Guiding Unit at St Luke’s in Bath, providing over 1000 young women with challenging and exciting activities and helping them to develop as young citizens. She continues to do so now, with as much enthusiasm as she had when she first began.

In 2007, Ruth was appointed the Chief Commissioner for Guides in Foreign Countries, taking responsibility for organising and expanding the influence of girl guiding in countries outside of the UK. During her five years in post, she travelled to many countries to offer her expertise, and established a team of trainers to teach the leaders of each international unit about best practice in guiding and how to help young women reach their potential. Ruth also organised annual camps at guide centres across the UK, where leaders travelled from far and wide to share ideas, update their training and discuss ways to advance the guiding ethos even further.

It is wonderful to see Ruth’s hard work and passion be recognised in this way, and whilst her inclusion in such a special awards list is no surprise to those who know her, Ruth was typically humble in her acceptance of her nomination, saying “It was majorly unexpected. I feel really flattered that people think I should be honoured in this way.”

We were also delighted to hear that alumna, Emily Brooke, our trail blazing inventor and entrepreneur, is being awarded an MBE for services to the economy and transport. Emily’s company, Blaze, which was established after she created the Blaze Laserlight for cyclists back in 2011, is now a market-leader in cycling safety products, bike share schemes and public transport initiatives.

Emily and her design initiatives have been at the centre of the upgrading of two major cycling schemes, here in the UK and across the pond in the United States. After a successful trial in 2015 of an integrated laser on London’s Santander Cycles, this device is now in the process of being fitted onto all 12,000 cycles in the capital, as it has on New York’s Citibikes.

Blaze now supplies over 60 countries with their world-class products, and this year opened a new Research and Development lab, which will undoubtedly lead to further success in years to come.

We could not be more proud of Emily’s success and her dedication to improving cycling safety across the world. Enjoy your day with the Queen ladies!