Knighthood for Welsh rugby great Gerald Davies

Wales rugby great Gerald Davies has said he is "dumbstruck" after being awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours.

The 79-year-old Wales and British and Irish Lions wing has been recognised for services to rugby union and voluntary and charitable service.

"It is an amazing honour," said the former player, who also scored 20 tries in 46 Tests for his country across his 12-year international career in the 1960s and 1970s, and is among a select group to have won three Grand Slams.

A paralympian, a doctor and a St John Ambulance volunteer are among the other Welsh names to be singled out for an honour, with the King's 2025 list featuring 58 recipients from Wales in total.

Sir Gerald, originally from Llansaint, Carmarthenshire, played for Cardiff, Llanelli and London Welsh and, after his retirement in 1978, he became a highly-respected administrator in the sport.

He was Lions manager for the 2009 tour to South Africa and also served as Welsh Rugby Union president between 2019 and 2023.

"I am humbled by it and moved by the thought that somebody, somewhere, has thought it worthy of giving me that honour," he said.

"I feel very emotional about it. I am surprised by it. Words are really quite inadequate to describe it."

He said he was grateful for the "enormous support" of his wife Cilla and children Emily and Ben, as well as friends and colleagues, adding: "They are constantly at my side in giving me support over the years. It is not something that you achieve entirely on your own."

He was made a CBE in 2003, which also included recognition for his work off the rugby field.

He said life was now "nice and calm", but that "rugby will be part of my life forever".

Sabrina Fortune - who won gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the women's F20 shot put - said she was "over the moon" to become a Member of the British Empire (MBE).

"I wanted to run around the kitchen and call every single person," she said.

Fortune, from Mold, Flintshire, is acknowledged as the world's leading women's F20 shot putter, having won the world title three times, and has been recognised for her athletic achievement.

The 27-year-old set a new world record in Birmingham in July, as well as in Kobe, Japan.

She then won gold in Paris with her first throw, breaking her world record.

"I was told I'd never amount to anything, that I'd never become anything. So to have people look up to you is an honour," she said.

When she heard about the MBE she "just wanted to cry", and said it was important athletes were recognised in the New Year Honours.

"I train six times a week," she said. "To get this a medal at the end of the year is just something that pushes you."

Other sportspeople to receive MBEs were Olympic cycling champion Emma Finucane, Jodie Grinholm, who was seven months pregnant when she won gold at the Paralympics in Paris, and Alan Phillips, lately Welsh Rugby Union team manager and a former Wales hooker.

Finucane, from Carmarthen, was appearing at her maiden Olympics when she was victorious in her team sprint, alongside Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell, in a new world record time.

The 21-year-old later added keirin and individual sprint bronzes and defended her world title.

Dr Rowena Christmas, a GP in Monmouthshire for more than 25 years, said she was "absolutely delighted" to receive her MBE for services to general practice.

She said when she received the letter from the cabinet office, an honour did not even occur to her.

"I really had no idea," she said. "I couldn't quite believe it. I couldn't think of anything that would mean more really."

Dr Christmas, who is also Wales chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), is an advocate for the importance of good primary care, both at rural practices like hers and across the country.

She said recognition like this "really does make a difference" and she was "really hoping it's going to be a good year ahead".

She is particularly working on plans to improve "continuity of care" across Wales and "take pressure off hospitals".

"I am completely passionate about the importance of GP practices [in doing this]," she said.

An MBE goes to Richard Huw Jones, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, who has volunteered with St John Ambulance for 23 years, providing treatment for about 120 cardiac arrests and averaging 100 attendances at life threatening incidents per year.

The 55-year-old volunteers for up to 1,200 hours a year, and leads a team of staff at large-scale events.

"I joined St John Ambulance Cymru over 20 years ago in 2001 as a new member in Llanelli and have worked my way up to now providing emergency transport, being operational commander at the Principality Stadium and tactical commander at events like the Eisteddfod and music concerts," he said.

"It's not been a fast track. I started at the bottom with a four hour first aid course and hard work has got me up to where I am today."

Francesca Bell, from Brecon, Powys, received a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to community development in Bannau Bycheiniog National Park, or the Brecon Beacons.

She was "shocked" to receive the honour: "I'm accepting it for myself, which is a great honour, but also so that I can raise awareness of all the people in the national park, and all the people in the local community who are working really hard to make things better for the environment and also for people," she said.

Ms Bell, 63, has worked as the park authority's community development officer for 10 years, as well as volunteering for the organisation.

Other Welsh recipients include musician and accompanist Richard Parry, from Cardiff, Bethan Darwin, from Cardiff founder of Superwomen Wales business network, woodturner Peter Lawson Bradwick, from Cwmbran, Torfaen, and community sport stalwart Michael Cope, from Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said it was "inspirational to see the wonderful work done by so many people from a huge range of backgrounds".

"Whether their passion lies in sport, health and wellbeing or music and the arts, their contributions make a huge difference to all our lives and I'd like to thank each and every one of them."