Mrs Nicola Hawkins awarded British Empire Medal

The College is proud to announce that one of its members, Mrs Nicola Hawkins was awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Years Honours in respect of her work in mediation. In 1995, in response to local residents’ requests, Hastings Borough Council recognised the need for a local mediation service to help neighbours in dispute.  They approached the CAB who in turn recruited Nicola to set up and manage the fledgling mediation service.  Nicola’s background was business management but she had no expertise in mediation as it was a ‘new’ field at the time. However Under her leadership the Mediation Service became an independent charity in 2003, and  over the years expanded to cover Family,  Intergenerational, Peer and Workplace Mediation as well as Neighbourhood Mediation. The College is proud of the recognition of Nicola’s hard work and in turn raising the profile of mediation.

Image: Nicola Hawkins and the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex