Mrs Rosemary Webb has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) by the King in the New Year Honours list.

Mrs Webb, a bookkeeper for Monnow Marquees and who lives in Marstow, has been heavily involved with the Monmouthshire Show Society Ltd since moving to the area from Leicestershire in 1978 and now manages the running of the Monmouthshire Showground and the accounts for the Society. A committee member since 1995, she became the first lady chairman of the Society in the year 2000 and is now a director of the Charitable Company.

During her years of involvement with the Society she has been a horse section steward and spent over twenty years as chief steward and organiser of the Craft Marquee and Shopping Mall. In 2014, due to maternity, she stepped in to cover as the show secretary which has given her a good appreciation of the level of work required to put on the Monmouthshire Show and the debt owed to the commitment of dedicated committee members and other volunteers.

“The Monmouthshire Show Society has been a big part of my life and I’ve loved being involved” she said.

Mrs Webb has also been a member of the board of governors at Goodrich Primary School since 2010 and is currently the Chair. For nearly twenty years she was the voluntary administrator of the Goodrich School Meals Association, an independent small business feeding up to 100 of the schools’ pupils every day.

An animal lover, she has owned and cared for many horses since purchasing her first pony at the age of seventeen including five World Horse Welfare rescue horses.

"I'm very pleased to receive this award and like to think that my late parents would have been proud of me and that I’ve done everything in my life to the best of my ability. I'm delighted to be able to accept this honour on behalf of everyone involved with the Monmouthshire Show Society and our school". she said.