Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire, Lady Susan Haughey, presented the accolade to Graham Reid, from Coatbridge, at a ceremony in South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters, Hamilton last week.

The event was hosted by South Lanarkshire Provost Ian McAllan, and attended by North Lanarkshire Provost Jean Jones and the Chief Executives of both councils, as well as Graham’s family, friends and colleagues.

Graham’s BEM was granted by the Queen in honour and gratitude for his unstinting charity work since the death of his six-year-old son David, 11 years ago, from the rare cancer non-hodgkins lymphoma.

Nominated by his colleagues at HMRC in East Kilbride, David is described as someone who brings ‘an empathy and kindness’ to his work place. Since returning to work after the loss of David, he had also been pivotal in promoting mental health awareness, as well as engaging staff in his fundraising efforts.

These efforts particularly benefited the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity (previously Yorkhill) for whom he has raised an incredible £110,000 to date.

Provost McAllan said: “I am proud to honour an individual who, against the background of a personal tragedy, has sought to make life better for others. Graham and his family have turned the unimaginable loss of a child into a determination to prevent as many others as possible from going through the same experience.

“Such courage and determination is genuinely awe-inspiring and I am personally humbled by the legacy Graham has created in David’s memory.”