Kathy Cowell, Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire and a trustee of Cheshire Community Foundation has been awarded an OBE in the New Year honours list for services to the community in Cheshire and Greater Manchester.
Kathy, who has lived in Wilmslow since 1975, is also Vice-Chair of Cheshire Young Carers, Chair of Your Housing Group and non-executive director of Central Manchester Foundation for the University Hospital Trust.
She previously served as Chair of Central and Eastern Cheshire Primary Care Trust, Chair of East Cheshire NHS Trust, Vice Chair of Warrington Hospital and became Cluster Chair in April 2011 when the four Cheshire PCTs were brought together to facilitate the move to Clinical Commissioning Groups and the NHS Trust Development Authority.
A banker by profession, Kathy held various senior positions within the Cheshire Building Society for 24 years.
Kathy supports many local charities and is a member of the East Cheshire Hospice Advisory Group. She became a Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire in 2006.
Kathy has been married to John for 43 years, they brought their two sons Michael and Andrew up in Wilmslow and now have two grandchildren Harry five and Connie four months. Kathy has many interests outside of business including reading, golf and socialising with her extended family and friends.
Speaking about her OBE Kathy said "I am absolutely thrilled and delighted and I do believe it is a huge honour. You do not achieve these things without a really strong network of people around you to help you and I could not have done this without their support for which I'm really grateful."
