By James Vukmirovic

Copyright expressandstar

Six people from across the Black Country are among eight new Deputy Lieutenants for the West Midlands announced on Wednesday by the Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands, Derrick Anderson CBE.

The West Midlands Lieutenancy said each of the new Deputy Lieutenants had contributed significantly to their local communities, national life, or both and their backgrounds ranged from community and charity work to education, health, sport and business.

The new appointees join a group of DL’s who assist the Lord-Lieutenant, who is His Majesty The King’s personal representative in the West Midlands, and will get involved with a range of civic, cultural and social initiatives across Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Duties will include supporting official royal visits to the region, representation at citizenship ceremonies, supporting the armed forces particularly the reserve and cadet forces, encouraging charitable and voluntary work and local initiatives to benefit the community, as well as promoting and encouraging nominations for the Honours, the King’s Awards for Voluntary Service, the King’s Award for Enterprise and the Young Active Citizen’s Award.

The Lord-Lieutenant for the West Midlands, Mr Derrick Anderson CBE, said the appointments reflected the service that each person has given, making positive impact and improving prospects for many.

He said: “It is a great privilege to serve as His Majesty The King’s representative in the West Midlands with the purpose of supporting every citizen and community in the region.

“These appointments, with their years of experience and dedicated service, will strengthen our work and I am delighted to welcome them to our group of passionate and dedicated DL’s.”

The new Deputy Lieutenants from the Black Country are Professor Ebrahim Adia from Wolverhampton, Major Jonathan Astley and Sumita Bakshi from Dudley, Calum Nisbet from Sandwell and Vicky Hines and Karen Williams from Walsall.

Professor Ebrahim Adia is Vice-Chancellor and CEO of Wolverhampton University, having moved to the West Midlands after a successful career in the North West where he was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Leadership) at the University of Central Lancashire.

He was a lecturer for 18 years before moving into academic management and his background is in public policy and policy analysis.

Major Jonathan Astley is director of Architecture at Astley Partnership Ltd with 30 years’ experience as an architect and has been involved in the design and delivery of a variety of projects in various sectors including education, retail, industrial and leisure.

He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Building (known at The Forum for the Built Environment) and is also a member of the Association for Project Safety and acts as Principal Designer, as well as a member of the Army Reserve, having joined in 1989 and is the current Officer Commanding B Squadron, The Royal Yeomanry, based in Dudley.

Sumita Bakshi is a highly experienced primary school teacher, who believes that every child deserves equal access to education, through personalised learning experiences and effective behaviour management.

She is a lifelong advocate for inclusion, wellbeing and spiritual connection within the British South Asian community and has led and participated in visionary initiatives that empower women, support vulnerable individuals and bridge generational divides.

Vicky Hines is the CEO of One Walsall, driving impactful initiatives in the voluntary and community sector, building strategic partnerships and delivering programmes that empower underserved populations.

She has a strong background in voluntary sector governance and has a passion for amplifying local voices to enable real and lasting change.

Calum Nisbet DL is the chief executive of The Kaleidoscope Plus Group, leading a 70 strong team supporting individuals with poor mental health, working with key providers of clinical services across local authorities and the NHS.

He is also Chair of the West Midlands Reserve Forces & Cadets Association Regional Employment Engagement Group and member of the Sandwell Together Partnership.

Karen Williams is the Founder and CEO of The Buddy Bag Foundation and received the OBE in 2021 for Services to Victims of Domestic Abuse.

The charity has donated more than 50,000 Buddy Bags for children who often arrive in care with nothing but the clothes that they are wearing.

The new appointments bring the total of Deputy-Lieutenants in the West Midlands to 75, with the number of DL’s calculated on the basis of population and the West Midlands having the second largest lieutenancy in the country with a population of nearly three million.