New Year's Honours: See who's celebrated in RBWM, Slough and Bucks

The New Year Honours list for 2026 has officially been revealed – celebrating key people from Windsor, Slough, Marlow and beyond who have made an outstanding contribution.

Each year, the reigning monarch recognises people with honours such as MBEs, OBEs and CBEs, which are awarded to those who have made significant contributions to public life, their profession or their local community.

An MBE for services to young people and to the community in Slough has gone to Rob Deeks, CEO of Together As One.

Together As One, previously known as Aik Saath, is a youth-focused charity founded in the 1990s in response to gang violence affecting the South Asian community in the area.

The project quickly evolved to work with all young people, regardless of their faith or background, working to promote safer futures and personal development.

Mr Deeks joined Together As One in 2003 as a project development worker and has since spent more than 20 years with the organisation.

As CEO, he is the man behind ensuring TAO engages with young people, volunteers, staff and the wider community.

He helps develop new projects, programmes and evaluations that get their voices heard. 

Helen Cooke, from Windsor, has been given a CBE for services to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Ms Cooke is CEO and founder of MyPlus, a UK consultancy focused on disability inclusion and employment.

She founded MyPlus with a view to ensure that no disability or long-term health condition prevents anyone from having the career they want.

Ms Cooke leads the organisation’s overall strategy and management, runs employer events and does keynote speaking and panel work.

She has made the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 list, which recognises the most influential disabled people in the UK each year, as a leading expert in disability employment.

The founder of Scamp & Dude clothing brand, Joanna Tutchener Sharp, has an OBE for services to fashion and charity in Berkshire.

Launched in 2016, Scamp & Dude launched its flagship store in Marlow, and its registered office remains within the town.

Ms Tutchener Sharp, from Cookham Dean, created the company’s first product – the Superhero Sleep Buddy – after recovering from brain surgery, when she was separated from her children.

She made this line with the idea of giving children comfort when they are apart from family.

For every Superhero Sleep Buddy sold, another would be donated to a child who has lost a parent or is seriously ill themselves.

So far, the company has donated a Sleep Buddy to more than 10,000 children.

A Windsor man, Stephen Hedley, has an MBE for services to ending homelessness.

Mr Hedley is the founder and chief executive of Trinity Homeless Projects, a charity which works closely with Slough Homeless Our Concern (SHOC).

It seeks to end homelessness by providing accommodation, coaching, training and pathways to independent living for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of it.

The organisation was registered in 2007 with Mr Hedley at the helm.

He has a long history of engagement in homelessness support; he was once homeless himself, and ‘needed the help of strangers.’

That experience shaped his commitment to supporting others in similar circumstances.

Under his leadership, Trinity Homeless Projects has grown into a recognised charity offering a range of services, including emergency accommodation.

A known face and name around Datchet has earned an MBE for services to the community in the village.

David Smith has been rolling up his sleeves for years as a long-standing Datchet community figure with involvement across several local organisations.

He is a key member of the Datchet Beer Festival organising team. As its co-founder and finance & operations director, Mr Smith has ‘driven it forward’ using his organisational skills and ‘passion for making a memorable event for everyone.’

As well as helping establish this event as a regular fixture in the village calendar, he has also been active in the Royal British Legion’s Datchet branch, and has represented it publicly on local issues.

Mr Smith has also previously been involved in Datchet Scouts, the Datchet Village Fete committee and is generally ‘a great supporter of local and district initiatives.’

The former leader of Buckinghamshire Council, Martin Tett, has been awarded a CBE for political and public service.

Cllr Tett has lived in Little Chalfont with his family for more than 30 years and his passions involve ‘keeping Bucks beautiful’, battling back against fly-tipping.

The Conservative ward councillor for Chalfont St Giles & Little Chalfont has been active on local environmental matters, including opposing high-speed rail development HS2.

Cllr Tett took charge of the former Buckinghamshire County Council in 2011, before becoming leader of the newly formed unitary authority of Buckinghamshire Council in 2020 and retaining this position until earlier this year – thus serving as leader for a total of 14 years.

After the Conservatives lost control of Bucks Council in May, Cllr Tett stepped down as leader to take a backbench role in the council.