Golden Sammi Kinghorn leads South Scotland honours

Paralympic gold medalist Samantha Kinghorn leads a raft of people from the South of Scotland recognised in the New Year's Honours List for 2025.

The wheelchair racer from Gordon has received the OBE having won her first Paralympic gold along with four silvers in Paris in the summer. It follows her award of an MBE in 2020.

Her fellow Paralympians Stephen Clegg and cyclist Fin Graham, who spent their early childhoods in the Borders, and archer Nathan Macqueen, originally from Dumfries, have all been awarded MBEs.

Former NHS Borders Chief Executive Callum Campbell also receives an OBE.

Kinghorn, who turns 29 and marries fiancé Callum Aitken in January, is hopeful that the publicity around her award can inspire more young people, and people with disabilities, to believe that they can reach the pinnacle of world sport.

"It's incredible. I was so shocked when I got my MBE and never thought I'd ever get another one, but it means a lot to me," she said.

"Disability sport has its ups and downs with how much we're given coverage, but there are a few of us from Paris who have been given honours.

"So this is another day where we get a bit of coverage, and there may be children who see our names and think, wow, they have disabilities and it doesn't matter - they're still achieving things."

Kinghorn says she is surprised when people suggest she is an inspiration to others, having recovered from a serious spinal injury aged just 14 to go on to global fame.

But she has a great message to anyone who experiences similarly traumatic life changes.

"Sport has given me confidence, but since my accident I have always aimed high.

"Why set the bar low? Set the bar as high as you can possibly think of, and it doesn't matter if you don't get there. I have learned that through sport.

"I accepted that I may never achieve Paralympic gold, and before going out to compete in Paris I said to myself, if this doesn't happen for me it doesn't make me any less of a person.

"What matters is that I am the best, in this moment, that I can possibly be. That's the most important thing."

Clegg, who also struck Paralympic gold for the first time in Paris in the summer – winning two gold medals in the pool - follows his sister Libby, who was awarded an MBE in 2017 after she won two golds in Rio 2016.

She competed as a sprinter and latterly a cyclist, and has gone on to become a TV presenter.

The siblings both have Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy, a deteriorating eye condition that leads to blindness, and Stephen says his sister inspired him.

"She's an incredible athlete and I know the amount of work it takes to get to this stage," he said.

"I've been very lucky to have a good role model in my life from a very early age. But reaching this level of success was never really on my radar.

"It's been a bit of a rollercoaster with lots of downs too, but I managed to finish the year off well - and to top it off with an MBE is a nice way to round out the year.

"It's been challenging but I think the challenges make the successes more worth it and add more meaning to it all."

There is also an OBE for former NHS Borders chief executive Callum Campbell for services to healthcare in Scotland. Mr Campbell from Melrose is currently in charge at NHS Lothian.

In Dumfries and Galloway, Gail Munro, the manager of Stranraer Ice Rink for the past 18 years, is among those recognised, with an MBE for services to curling.

Her career spans more than 40 years as a competitor and development coach, and the sport's governing body, Scottish Curling, described her contribution to the growth of the game as "outstanding".

"I'm just absolutely thrilled, taken aback really," she said, in a break from a Hogmanay Bonspiel. "It's so nice to be recognised.

"I couldn't do it without the support of my family. It was my dad that built the rink back in 1970 and so it was always expected that I would curl, but I don't know if it was expected that I'd make it my life's work.

"But my husband and my kids have been really supportive. They're all blown away."

Café owner and volunteer Romano Petrucci has also been awarded an MBE for services to the community in Stranraer, having led campaigns to regenerate the coastal town and chair Stranraer Development Trust.

Four South of Scotland residents have also been honoured with the British Empire Medal (BEM) for extraordinary service to their local communities.

Also honoured are Ian Gibb - co-founder of the Earlston Paths Group, Newton Stewart fundraiser Mavis Paterson, Ann Croucher - a Tesco champion in Dumfries, Castle Douglas volunteer Susan Gourlay and Ann Rooke, a cleaning supervisor at Castle Douglas High School.