Horsham clean air campaigner to receive special award for her work

Susan, who lives in Horsham, is to receive the British Citizen Award at the Palace of Westminster later this month. Dubbed ‘The People’s Honours’, the award recognises community heroes for their endeavours and positive impact on society.

Susan’s dream career as an airline pilot came to a devastating end as she became very ill and was deemed no longer medically fit to fly at the age of 34.

For the last 25 years, she has dedicated her life to getting the problem of contaminated air on aircraft recognised and fixed.

She has achieved some impressive milestones, committing to protect crews and the travelling public.

To achieve her goals, Susan retrained by doing both a PhD in Occupational Safety in the Workplace and then an MSc. She has successfully motivated air crew unions globally as well as in the UK,and the Royal Australian Air Force to help her address this occupational health and flight safety issue, with unions representing over 200,000 members.

In 2006, she played a vital role in unions creating the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive to fix the problem. Susan was appointed Head of Research, a job she has mostly done unpaid.

Today, Susan has stage four breast cancer, a cancer her doctors are convinced came from her exposure to engine oils at work 25 years ago. Due in part to her extensive work, the industry is now taking more steps towards resolving the important health issue.

The British Citizen Award in partnership with One Stop, is now in its ninth year and Susan is one of only 29 individuals to be recognised at the Palace of Westminster on January 26 and will receive the Brtish Citizen Award Medal of Honour. It will be presented by TV presenter and British Citizen Award patron Nick Knowles,

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​The British Citizen Award is widely viewed as the nation’s way of recognising extraordinary, everyday people for exceptional endeavour. The Medal presentation is held twice annually in January and July to nominate an outstanding individual from the community to be considered for The People’s Honours.