A Redbridge councillor of 32 years has been appointed an MBE in the New Year’s Honours.
Cllr Alan Weinberg, cabinet member for children’s services, has been awarded for his services to education and to the community.
He said: “You don’t come into local politics thinking this little boy is going to grow up to win an MBE so I’m over the moon”.
Conservative Cllr Weinberg, 67, who represents Clayhall ward, was first elected in 1982 and has sat on around four school governing bodies.
He has been the chairman of governors for Beal High School, in Woodford Bridge Road, Redbridge, since 1984 and hopes to help turn it into an academy in 2014.
He is also being awarded for his service to the wider community and memorably his idea of the Holocaust Memorial Gardens in Valentines Park, Cranbrook Road, Ilford, 12 years ago.
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