THE MAN behind Bolton FM has spoken of his pride after his children were able to see him receive an honour from Prince William.

Dr Andrew Dickson took his two sons to Buckingham Palace yesterday where the Duke Cambridge handed him an MBE in recognition of service to local business and the community.

“It was a fantastic occasion,” he said. “I’m down here with my two sons and they are proud of me and I’m proud of them.”

Mr Dickson found initial success with award-winning travel agency St Andrews Travel where he began to organise fundraising and charitable events with his staff.

He followed this up by co-founding Bolton FM, the popular community radio station for which he is still volunteer chairman.

In addition, the businessman is a keen supporter of Bolton Lads and Girls Club.

Following his trip to the capital he praised the work of palace staff, calling the experience “lovely but a bit emotional”.

Mr Dickson said: “The whole procedure is incredible, you get passed from person to person and everyone just gets nicer and nicer.

“The pomp and circumstance of it makes you feel special and it makes everything feel important.

“It’s great, I feel very lucky to be here because everything I have done I have been surrounded by a great team of people, both as St Andrews Travel and later at Bolton FM.”

The Bolton News:

Bolton’s Bhagvati Parmar also joined the celebrations at the palace after being handed his own honour.

The migration planning coordinator who works for HM Revenue and Customs was awarded with an MBE for her longstanding charitable work and service to the community.

Yesterday’s honours added to a string of other well-known local figures who were named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in 2019

These included charity founded Saeed Atcha - who received an MBE at just 22 years old - and Trish Armstrong-Child, the popular director of nursing at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. Others who have been honoured this year are Yusuf Mehmood Tai, the co-founder of Public Service Youth Foundation for services to young people, Dr Anthony Griffin for services to sport, charity and the community and Victoria Anne Dickens, for services to physiotherapy.