Chairman of Newbury charity recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

David Ball was part of team that helped bring new cancer care facility to West Berkshire

The chairman of a Newbury cancer charity has been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

David Ball was appointed an OBE for voluntary and charitable services.

As well as being chairman of Newbury Cancer Care, Mr Ball is also a trustee of The Rosemary Appeal - a fundraising campaign that was set up to raise £5.3m for a new cancer care and renal dialysis unit at the West Berkshire Community Hospital.

The 2020 birthday honours list includes more than 1,000 people, among them entertainers, key workers, health officials and footballers.

The likes of Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford - who forced the Government into a U-turn on free school meals - and Joe Wicks, who helped provide PE classes to children in lockdown, have also been recognised.

The list was released yesterday, one month after originally intended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the Queen hands out the awards, she is not the one who chooses their recipients.

As with many of her other duties, the Queen acts on the advice of her ministers.

Committees of experts and senior civil servants sift through the nominees and assess them.

The assessments then pass through a selection committee, who draw up the final list.

They then go through applicants independently of any Government influence.

Once they have settled on nominees, the Prime Minister submits the list to the Queen.