A MAN from a village near Oswestry has been invited to attend the King’s coronation next month.
Malcolm Farrar from Dovaston, was a recent recipient of the British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours list 2021.
He received the BEM for his services to Road Safety Education in many Shropshire secondary schools and colleges.
Malcolm admitted that he was slightly suspicious when he received the email about the invitation to the coronation as he believed it was a scam.
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He said: “I got the email from the Cabinet Office in the middle of March, and the subject title was ‘King’s Coronation Invitation’ – so I thought it was a little bit spam-ish looking.
“I thought I’d open it anyway, and I replied the following day and then got a confirmation.
“I heard nothing for a couple of weeks, and then they confirmed it was real.”
Malcolm continued: “There is something in the back of your mind when you receive something like this on an email – before you receive a physical invitation.
“So they sent me the official one just last week.”
The road safety education officer explained that he was really excited when he received the invite.
“I feel quite honoured but also nervous to go down to London from the Shire,” he added.
Malcolm said he feels privileged to attend such an event, and is sad that his wife won’t be able to join him at the special occasion.
He will be going down to London the night before, as he explained that the guests are required to be at the venue at 7.30am on Saturday.
Malcolm has delivered presentations about road safety to students in schools across the county as part of his role, which he took on 18 years ago.
He retired in January and is looking forward to some time off after his years of service.
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“Although I retired all the schools that I helped educate in road safety would have me come in for talks with open arms,” he added. “I really enjoyed my job, but now it’s time for me to look forward to the next thing.”
The King’s coronation is set to take place on May 6 at the Westminster Abbey.
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