Wick man honoured for Japan disaster support
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A CAITHNESS man who launched a campaign to support victims of last year’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been honoured by the Queen.
Wick-born John Ramsay Bremner, who is president and chief executive of Unilever Japan, was awarded an OBE in Her Majesty’s birthday honours list on Saturday.
Also picking up awards were renowned Highland dancing teacher Mina Mackay, from the Hill of Forss, who received a British Empire Medal, and Judie Newman, originally from Caithness, who was awarded an OBE.
Mr Bremner, a former Wick High pupil, is the eldest son of John and Marwyn Bremner.
After finishing school he won a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1975 and graduated with an MA Hons in Latin and Greek languages, history and philosophy. He received the OBE in recognition of his services to corporate social responsibilty and to the community of Japan.
The east coast of the country was left devastated when the 9.0 earthquake, 70km from land, occurred on March 11, 2011 – the biggest the country has ever experienced. A 40-metre-high tsunami later hit the country killing 16,000 people with 3000 still missing.
Mr Bremner led the Unilever company to recovery and launched a campaign of support for victims of the disaster by working with charities such as Save the Children, Oxfam, the World Food Programme and UNICEF.
Mr Bremner said he wanted to share the award with his colleagues who had helped the victims of the disaster.
"This award is really for all the employees of Unilever Japan who did much following the earthquake," he said.
"I am honoured to receive it, but even more proud to be a member of a team of people who really wanted to make a difference for those who had suffered so terribly."
Meanwhile, for 55 years she has helped teach hundreds of children from across Caithness Highland dancing, but hearing she had been awarded the British Empire Medal made Mina Mackay dance for joy.
After starting the Mina Mackay School of Dance in 1957, she continues to teach her students and pledged to do so until she is no longer fit.
"It was a complete surprise when I heard last month that I was to receive the award, but I am very honoured," she said. "Teaching children is one of my passions in life and my students are always so enthusiastic to learn. It is a way of keeping them off the streets and learning new skills to stay fit and healthy and I always try to teach the fun element as well as the competitiveness of the sport.
"I have been inundated with messages of congratulations from former students as far afield as Canada and I have been overwhelmed with the amount of well wishes from people."
She also received the award in recognition of her charity work – she has helped raise a five-figure sum for various local causes by providing dancers to perform at ceilidhs and events. Professor Newman (62), who lives in Nottingham, was awarded an OBE for her services to scholarship.
She is the daughter of Cash and Alice Newman and as a teenager worked at the Courier office in Olrig Street, Thurso.
She gained an MA Honours in English and literature in 1972 and in French and literature in 1974 at the University of Edinburgh.
She now works at the School of American Studies at the University of Nottingham and has published widely on American and post-colonial topics.
After hearing the news, she telephoned her mother, who lives in Forss Road, Thurso, and said it made her day after she was feeling poorly.
"I am really pleased to receive the award and it is particularly nice as there are not too many people that are awarded for the work in my specialised field," she said.
"The OBE recognises the importance of what we do as well as being a personal honour for me. I’ve always had the bug for research into literature and once you start finding out new things you get hooked by it.
"I really enjoy and am fortunate to do what I do for a living and I’m honoured to be recognised in such a way."
