New Year's Honours: Architect Stefanie Stead, Exceed boss Duncan Jacques and young people champions to be honoured

Recipients include women who have given vast amounts of their time to support young people and bring communities together, a pioneering architect, and leading figures in the world of education.

The individual receiving the most prestigious award is Duncan Jacques, chief executive of Exceed Academies Trust, who will become a CBE.

The education trust runs six schools across the district, including three in the deprived Little Horton and Canterbury areas which are all Outstanding or Good.

Recently, Copthorne Primary School in Little Horton achieved the best results in the district, with 98 per cent of its students achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, and children’s progress ranking well above the national average.

In the primary school league tables, Exceed had four of the five top schools in Bradford, and Mr Jacques has played a huge part in the vast improvements in the schools.

Under his leadership in the past two years, one of its schools and nurseries have been named Centres for Excellence for inclusivity, and standards across the schools have risen sharply.

Ruby Bhatti and Christopher Brown are both going to become OBEs in the New Year, for their contributions to young people and education, respectively.

Ms Bhatti is being honoured for her services to young people and housing. A nominee for Governor of the Year at the 2018 Bradford Schools Awards, Ms Bhatti is a board member of the Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust and Dixons Academies Trust, and also has more than two decades of experience as a solicitor.

She was previously chair of the BME Housing Association, is a non-executive board member of Carlisle Business Centre, and also sits as a non-executive director in the social housing sector for Incommunities.

She is also a governor at four schools and used to work for TRACKS Education, providing learning for children with medical needs which prevent them from attending mainstream school.

She said: "I feel really honoured and privileged to receive this recognition.

"The honour is also an extremely humbling one which I dedicate to my late parents who brought me up and always tried to help others.

"I also would not be where I am today without the support of my husband and daughter.

"I'm completely overwhelmed, but also very fortunate to work with so many amazing people across the district who have made a real difference to the lives of others.

"I hope this will inspire others to give something back to the community."

Christopher Brown DL, from Keighley, has been recognised for his services to higher education.

He has been chair of Council at the University of Huddersfield since 2004, and a member of the University Council since 1996. Away from the university, he is chair of Thermal Energy Ventures, based in Brighouse, and Heckmondwike-based Wakefield Acoustics.

Mr Brown is also a director of Bluestone Films, based in Sutton-in Craven, and Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club.

He is also an active competitive swimmer with City of Bradford Swimming Club.

Over the past decade the University of Huddersfield has been on an upward trajectory and is currently ranked 60th in the Complete University Guide league table, up 12 places on last year.

Wahida Shaffi, Kim Moloney and Stefanie Stead are to become MBEs.

Wahida Shaffi has been honoured for her services to women, young people and interfaith and community cohesion in Bradford.

Kim Moloney has been recognised for her services to the gypsy and traveller community in her role as honorary president of Leeds GATE (Gypsy and Traveller Exchange), which supports gypsy and traveller communities across West Yorkshire.

Ms Stead, 36, from Otley, has been honoured for her services to architecture and the construction industry in her role as regional chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Construction Industry Council, and as director of Stead & Co architects.

When she found out she had been made an MBE, new mum Ms Stead said she was “incredibly shocked”.

She said: “You don’t expect these things at all, you think, ‘what have I done to deserve this?’.

“I’m so happy and proud, this was a big surprise.

“The council is a pan-institutional organisation where all member construction bodies collaborate under one umbrella.

“I was the regional representative then became chair, but recently I stood down because I have just had a baby, but I held the role for five or six years.

“I went into schools raising the profile of the industry and trying to get more girls into construction and having more conversations.

“We are doing a lot of work now with diversity; we are doing well on gender but there are other areas of diversity where we need to improve.

“I have tried to be a role model to get more women and girls into the industry, and I also run my own architecture business too.

“It would be an honour to receive my MBE from any member of the Royal family, but I do very much admire what Prince William and Harry have done, I think it’s because we are the same generation, but I think for anyone meeting the Queen would be amazing.”

Receiving British Empire Medals will be Karen Cobb, from Keighley, for services to the taxpayer in her role as regional operational leader at HM Revenue and Custom, and Gillian Birks, for services to the community in Glusburn.

Former Detective Sergeant at West Yorkshire Police Janine Sullivan will be honoured with a Queen’s Police Medal.

A number of famous faces are also set to receive knight and damehoods in the New Year’s Honours list.

The list includes Ian Blatchford, director of the Science Museum Group, which includes Bradford’s National Science and Media Museum, who is being honoured for his services to cultural education.

Respected comedian and television presenter Michael Palin has been made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for his services to travel, culture and geography.

The presenter of a number of popular travel and history documentaries, Mr Palin backed the Telegraph & Argus’s campaign to save the National Media Museum when it was threatened with closure in 2013.

British fashion icon Lesley Lawson, better known as Twiggy, is being made a Dame for her services to fashion, the arts and charity.

As well as being a cultural icon in the 1960s and going on to have a successful acting career, Twiggy has also been a prominent spokesperson for breast cancer research and for animal welfare and anti-fur campaigns.

Author Philip Pullman is being knighted for his services to literature. The 72-year-old is recognised as one of the most influentual figures in British culture over the past 60 years.

He is perhaps best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy, the first book of which was adapted into blockbuster film The Golden Compass.

Former England cricket captain Alistair Cook, who retired from international cricket at the end of the summer holding a number of national records, is honoured with a knighthood for his services to cricket.

In his 12 year international career, he became the youngest player ever to score 12,000 Test runs, is the leading run-scorer in Tests for England, the country’s most capped player and captained England in a record 59 Tests.

He has also notched a record 33 Test centuries and is the fifth highest Test run scorer of all time. He is widely regarded as one of England’s greatest ever players.

Bill Beaumont, chair of rugby union’s governing body World Rugby, and former England captain, is also receiving a knighthood for services to rugby union.

North Yorkshire-based England football manager Gareth Southgate, who guided the team to the World Cup semi-finals this summer in Russia, will become an OBE, as will the chief executive of Greggs, Roger Whiteside, for his services to women and equality.

Christopher Nolan, who has directed films including the Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Dunkirk and Memento, will be made a CBE for services to film.