John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, has been knighted and Barbara Frost, former chief executive of WaterAid, has been made a dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. 

Low, who was honoured for his charitable work, joined CAF in 2007 from the same position at the RNID, now Action on Hearing Loss, and spent four years as chair of the charity chief executives body Acevo. He said he was “delighted, surprised and most grateful” to receive the honour.  

“I’ve had great the pleasure of working with many highly capable people in some amazing organisations that together have made a lasting difference, and I hope this recognition reflects on all our work together to change things for the better,” he said.

Frost, who retired last month after 11 years in charge at WaterAid, was made a dame for services to the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries.

Among the more than 1,100 people to receive awards at all levels, there were CBEs for Pauline Broomhead, founding chief executive of the FSI, which supports small charities; Barbara Gubbins, chief executive of the County Durham Community Foundation; Julie Maxton, executive director of the Royal Society; Gil McNeil, chief executive of the children’s charity Theirworld; Jennie Price, chief executive of Sport England; and Kenneth Tharp, former chief executive of the dance charity The Place.

The same honour went to Mark Wood, chair of the NSPCC; Stevie Spring, chair of BBC Children in Need; Wayne Bulpitt, former UK chief commissioner of the Scout Association; Alan Smith, chair of RAF Charitable Trust Enterprises; David Warren, a board member of Charity Bank; and Colin McClatchie, vice-president of Scottish Opera.

Those to be given OBEs included Melanie Waters, chief executive of Help for Heroes; Brendan Joyce, chief executive of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust; Jan Fishwick, chief executive of Parents and Children Together; Paul Soames, former deputy chief executive of Contact a Family; and Margaret Parks, chief executive of the Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, Cornwall.

Michael Appleby, former chief scientific adviser at World Animal Protection; Tracey Brown, director of Sense About Science; Gary Cooper, chief executive of Middletown Centre for Autism; Gloria Elliott, chief executive of the Noise Abatement Society; Michael Goodhand, head of logistics, international division, at the British Red Cross; and Sue McDermott, former national director of Rainbows Bereavement Support GB, were appointed OBE.

Among the dozens of people with connections to the voluntary sector to be given MBEs are Suzanne Hudson, chief executive of Bipolar UK; Nigel Harris, director of the Camden LGBT Forum; Julie Jennings, former manager, children, young people and families at the RNIB; and Danny Kruger, chair of the criminal justice charity Only Connect.

The Cabinet Office said that 74 per cent of the 1,109 people to receive awards were those who had “undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or paid capacity”.

The department said a record high of 10 per cent of those honoured were from black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds, and 6.5 per cent of those to receive awards considered themselves to have disabilities.