Honour ‘amazes and embarrasses’
‘AMAZED and embarrassed’ was how Jurat Stephen Jones said he felt when he found out he had been made an OBE.
He has been given the award for his services to local charities and the community in Guernsey, as well as for his work for the Royal Court.
His involvement with charities started when he joined his wife helping The Guernsey Cheshire Homes some 30 years ago, where he put to use his skills from his day job in the finance sector by providing book-keeping and payroll services.
He went on to become treasurer and chairman of the charity.
It was about 15 years after starting with The Cheshire Home, once his children were grown up, that he started to become involved with other local charities.
He has been on the board of directors of Guernsey Chest and Heart, as a trustee and treasurer, and has played a pivotal role in Help a Guernsey Child, helping ensure that the grants and welfare payments given out by the charity go directly to those who need them most.
He has also been chairman of the Lloyds Bank Foundation and acted as a mentor to people establishing the Guernsey Community Foundation in its early days.
Jurat Jones has also been involved with parish work, serving in St Martin’s as procureur of the poor, douzenier and constable. After being elected a jurat in 2008, he continued to be heavily involved in local charities and took on a directorship at the Guernsey Employment Trust and then became chairman of the management committee.
‘We’ve never done this because we think we are good people,’ he said of his and his wife’s involvement with charities. ‘Our friends say, “We don’t know why you do it”. But we like doing it. We find it interesting, enjoyable and challenging.’
He said he had a phone call from Government House with the news of his award four weeks ago.
‘I was amazed and embarrassed because what we do, lots of other people do too,’ he said. ‘But I was absolutely thrilled too.’
One of his first thoughts was how proud his 93-year-old mother would be, since Jurat Jones’ late sister, Catherine, was also made an OBE for her services to the Metropolitan Police Authority.
‘My mum will be delighted,’ said Jurat Jones.
