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Woman skipped with joy after getting MBE letter

Dan Martin
BBC News, East Midlands
PA Media A woman in glasses and a blike and white topPA Media
Merlita Bryan was the first African Caribbean woman to become Sheriff of Nottingham

A woman from Nottingham said she skipped around the room with joy when she found out she was being named in the King's Birthday Honours list.

Merlita Bryan has been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to the black community in the city and the wider East Midlands.

Mrs Bryan was the first African Caribbean woman to become Sheriff of Nottingham, served for 16 years as a councillor and is a former lord mayor of the city.

She founded the Black Achievers Awards in 2011 to celebrate the achievements of black and minority ethnic individuals, and has been recognised for her work to reshape negative stereotypes.

"I can't believe it," the 74-year-old the BBC.

"I'd been to the gym and there was a pile of letters when I got home - one of which was in a yellow envelope marked cabinet office.

"I thought 'what kind of trouble am I in now":[]}