A man from Purley who helped coordinate the British Red Cross response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been named on the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Matthew Killick is the UK director of 'Crisis Response and Community Resilience' with the British Red Cross, and was praised for his "perseverance and commitment" as multiple waves of coronavirus spread across the UK since January 2020.

"Under Matthew’s leadership, British Red Cross volunteers were deployed across the country to help people and communities in need, supported countless other organisations and worked closely with DCMS and the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership (VCSEP) to engage volunteers around the country and coordinate a national response," a spokesperson for the Red Cross described.

Matthew for his part praised volunteers he has worked with during the pandemic so far.

With British Red Cross efforts spanning so many Covid-related efforts from transporting people to hospital safely to delivering essentials to those shielding, he said thousands of people had come forward to offer their help.

"I’ve worked within charities for nearly 25 years and as someone who gets real satisfaction from helping others, well I feel so humbled to have my work recognised in this way especially in the year it’s been, and when so many have done so much.

"I have been genuinely privileged to work with so many dedicated colleagues within the Red Cross and from all agencies," he said.

"Early last year we could see the numbers rising as Covid-19 took its grip across the globe and the UK. The outpouring of support from people was phenomenal.

"Thousands of volunteers and staff came forward to help.

"They’ve worked tirelessly at the coalface, meeting local needs, keeping people safe, transporting people to and from hospital, making sure the most vulnerable people have the essentials they need at home such as food and medicine, and being there at the end of the phone for anyone who needed to call our support line."

The Purley man pointed out that over 2.5 million people had been supported by British Red Cross either directly or via their online services, and said a big "thank you" to all the volunteers he'd worked with to help make that possible.

"We would like to offer you our sincerest congratulations to Matthew on behalf of the British Red Cross for his recently awarded BEM.

"We are delighted and proud that his work has been recognised on a national level," David Beirnstein CBE, who chairs the British Red Cross board of trustees, said.

"We are so proud of the service that Matthew 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 Matthew has shown during these challenging times."