HALF a century of dedication to the fire service has earned a Studley-born man an MBE.
Paul Hodges was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours earlier the year and received his medal this month (October).
The former firefighter started part-time at Studley Fire Station in February 1965 when the service was known as Warwickshire County Fire Brigade, moving to full-time work at Leamington Spa in 1968 and Bedworth two years after that until 1996.
After stepping down as a firefighter, he was appointed as a driving instructor to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. He will leave at the end of March next year having spent 50 years working for the brigade.
Mr Hodges was given his MBE in recognition of his contribution to the trauma support team, which he helped set up in 1993 and still provides support for colleagues to this day.
“It was a shock and a great honour to be informed that I would be receiving the MBE, it really is the icing on the cake as I come to the end of a rewarding career.” he said.
“It certainly is an honour to be recognised for my contribution to establishing one of the first teams in the country. I am very proud of the work that myself and my colleagues in the trauma support team have achieved in support of operational personnel in the service.
“Without this team of committed members, past and present, the team would not function as it does and recently being called on to assist with another service shows the level of expertise that the team in Warwickshire are thought of by other brigades.”
