Charity stalwart wins CBE gong

Reporter: Dawn Marsden
Date published: 14 June 2010


AN inspirational businessman who has donated millions of pounds to local charities has been awarded the CBE.

Norman Stoller OBE, whose father Ivor invented the world-famous tubular bandage, was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to charity.

The business stalwart, who now lives in Bowness, Cumbria, set up his medical equipment company Seton in the 1950s with £100 of borrowed capital and a converted post office van.

The 76-year-old businessman commercialised the bandage so successfully that Seton became one of Oldham’s biggest employers, valued at many millions of pounds.

Mr Stoller became elected county president of St John Ambulance in 1985 and was founder chairman of Oldham Training and Enterprise Council in 1990.

His many personal honours include being appointed deputy lieutenant of Greater Manchester in 1995 and being installed as High Sheriff of Greater Manchester in 1999.

The Stoller Charitable Trust has poured more than £3 million into the community — including £250,000 towards Oldham’s new youth zone — since it was set up 20 years ago to benefit children in need.




Chadderton professor and former pop star Brian Cox, who helped explain the mysteries of the cosmos and make science programmes popular, has been awarded an OBE for services to science.



The 42-year-old former Hulme Grammar School student is a Professor of Particle Physics and Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.

He said: “I really am chuffed because it’s a nice honour, but more than that, recognising that promoting science to the public is an important thing will hopefully encourage more people to do it.”

Professor Brian is also well known for being the keyboard player in 1990s band D:ream — whose hit “Things Can Only Get Better” was used as a New Labour election anthem.

Mr Cox regularly presents TV science programmes and he is also a UK representative on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva — the world’s most powerful particle experiment which will allow scientists to recreate the early conditions of the universe.

When switched on, the experiment aims to recreate the conditions in the first billionth of a second after the Big Bang.




“Coronation Street” actress Barbara Knox (76) has been awarded the MBE for services to drama to mark her stint in the long-running ITV soap.



Barbara, better known as Rita Sullivan, was born in Oldham and started her acting career at Oldham Rep, which later became the Coliseum.

The 76-year-old star recently announced she would cut back her hours on the show, in which she has starred for 38 years.




Peter Collins, a married father-of-two from Denshaw who runs the Salford Foundation Charity, has been awarded a CBE for services to young people.



The organisation, which Mr Collins set up 21 years ago, supports the vocational, personal, social and academic development of young people and adults in Salford.

Mr Collins (53) said: “I am really shocked but extremely pleased. It is recognition of the work the whole team do so the award is for all of us.

“The organisation has evolved over the years and I am very proud of the projects we run to support children, young people and adults. We are building quite a track record for engaging disengaged members of the community.”




Poet Simon Armitage, who spent years as a probation officer in Oldham, has been awarded the CBE for services to literature.



The 47-year-old, from Huddersfield, has also worked as a shelf stacker, lecturer, reviewer and broadcaster.

Critics praise Mr Armitage’s humorous, accessible style. His work has been shortlisted for a number of national prizes.




Local doctors’ leader Kailash Chand, chairman of NHS Tameside and Glossop, was awarded the OBE for services to healthcare.



Recently retired, Dr Chand spent 25 years as a GP in Ashton after graduating from medical school in Patiala, Punjab.

He said: “I am humbled and proud to have been recognised in this way. The NHS has been a huge part of my life for a quarter of a century, and it has been a privilege to work within it.”