Norwich church couple honoured by King Charles 

A Norwich couple who founded a church, an orchestra and a Trust which helps house the elderly in the community, have been honoured by King Charles III in the New Year’s Honours.

David, 81, and Ruth Southgate, 79, of Hellesdon, have both been made MBEs after dedicating more than 50 years of their lives to voluntary work, founding Meadow Way Chapel in May 1971 as well as a 35-member orchestra.

 

For many years David and Ruth ran their shop Cards n Things, and in more recent years they founded and continue to work with Hawthorne Meadow Trust which helps house the elderly in the community.

 

Ruth said the award came as a “complete surprise” and that she is at “a loss for words”, while David added all the work they do is for the love of the community.

 

“It was overwhelming to be recognised,” Ruth said. “I’m not usually at a loss for words but I was – and still am. I can’t believe it. It never crossed either of our minds that we could get an MBE. You see there’s a need and, with our Christian faith, you get a vision to help.”

 

David added: “You don’t dream of getting an MBE. What we do just comes naturally. We do what we do for the community because we love doing it.”

 

“But we’ve always had a good team behind us,” Ruth explained. “We can’t have done any of this on our own. They’re not getting an MBE but they must be thanked as they work so hard.”

 

Read more about David and Ruth on Network Norfolk

Read more of this article on EDP24

 

Pictured top are Ruth and David Southgate inside Cards ‘n’ Things in Hellesdon, with their son Paul who now runs it.