Keep Britain Tidy's Accreditation Manager awarded an MBE

Keep Britain Tidy is thrilled to announce the charity’s Accreditations Manager Paul Todd has been awarded an MBE in the King’s birthday honours list.

Paul received the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), which is awarded for an outstanding achievement or service to the community, in recognition of his services to Public Parks and to the community in Liverpool.

The honour is given to people whose achievement has had a long-term, significant impact and stands out as an example to others.

Paul, who has worked at Keep Britain Tidy since 2009, is a passionate advocate of quality places for people to live, work and relax in, wherever they live.

He is responsible for the Green Flag Award scheme the international standard for parks and green spaces, which the charity currently manages, along with the Blue Flag Award and Seaside Award for beaches and Green Key for the hospitality sector.

Paul has worked on the Green Flag Award scheme since 2003. During this period the number of sites flying the flag has increased from 182 to 2,429 with sites in 16 countries outside the UK including The Netherlands, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

Paul is also a member of Friends of Norris Green Park in his native city of Liverpool.

The Order of the British Empire was established by King George V in 1917 to honour those who had served in a non-combative role and the Order was expanded to reward contributions to the Arts, Sciences, Charitable work and Public Service.

Reacting to the news Paul said: “ It's a huge honour to have been awarded an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours. I see this as recognition of the importance of parks and green spaces and the work of the thousands of staff and volunteers.

Thank you to all the staff and judges who have made the Green Flag Award such a success and to the dedicated members of the Friends of Norris Green Park, and to whoever nominated me.

“There’s still much work to be done to ensure everyone has access to a quality park.”