Sheriff of Norwich and former Norfolk Coroner William Armstrong has been made an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List.
William, who is also a Lay Canon of Norwich Cathedral and a man with a strong Christian faith, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to the bereaved and to charity.
He said: “I feel deeply honoured by the award. It has been a great privilege to have served the people of Norfolk as Coroner for nearly two decades. I am immensely grateful to those who worked with me, during that time, to launch a number of ground-breaking initiatives and to place the needs of the bereaved at the centre of the inquest process.
“Although the Coroner’s function is primarily judicial I believe very strongly that the justice administered by the Coroner should be dispensed with compassion and sensitivity recognising the unique value of each and every life and the special loss caused by every death.”
William became Norfolk Coroner after practicing as a solicitor for some 30 years in Norwich, specialising in mental health and child care issues.
During his tenure, he extended the traditional role of Coroner including the setting up of a support service and the first chaplaincy service in the country.
William is chairman of health watchdog Healthwatch Norfolk, a patron of child bereavement charity Nelson’s Journey and President of adult bereavement counselling organisation Norwich and Central Cruse Cruse.
As Sheriff of Norwich, he has been keen to support charitable groups across the city and county and in March will be sleeping under the stars as part of YMCA Norfolk’s Sleep Easy event. He has also paid recent visits to Norwich Foodbank and FISH lunch clubs, among many others.
Read our previous article on William
Pictured above, William Armstrong OBE and talking to children at a Norwich FISH lunch club.
Read the full article here
