THE chief executive of the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust has been made an MBE in the New Year’s honours list.

Bronwen Hewitt, who has been at the helm of the trust for 12 years, has received the honour in recognition of her services to the charity which helps children, young people and adults with profound physical and learning disabilities.

The charity operates from two sites in Devon, one of which is Hannahs at Seale-Hayne, near Newton Abbot which provides learning opportunities, care and support.

Ms Hewitt has been involved with the charity for 37 years and helped develop state-of-the-art facilities for young adults in Ivybridge.

Reacting to news of the MBE award, she said: ‘I was very shocked but extremely honoured.

‘This is really for everyone at Hannahs.

‘We have such an amazing set of staff, trustees and of course, our young people.

‘Seale Hayne was a big move for us and it has grown into a lovely community.

‘Facilities like these are much-needed.

‘There is a huge black hole out there for these young people who are not getting the support they need and in this financial climate it is getting worse.

‘It is a big issue for them to be part of the community.

‘We have some amazing young people and Hannahs is really quite special.’

One of the country’s oldest charities, Hannahs has been helping children and young people for more than 200 years and its mission today is to ‘empower, advocate and enrich’ the lives of children and adults with disabilities.