A Slough grandmother received a birthday present to remember this year - an MBE from the Queen.

Rashida Baig received the honour in recognition of her services to children’s and family social work and racial equality after joining Croydon Council in April 2019.

The mother-of-three and grandmother-of-three, who turned 57 at the weekend became a social worker in 2000, working part-time as an under-eights officer for the council in her home town of Slough. She later worked in the social care teams at Hillingdon, Wokingham and West Berkshire councils before joining Croydon.

ALSO VIEW OBE for Maidenhead man who brought hi-speed WiFi to the tube

In addition to helping reduce caseloads and the number of children needing protection plans, a key point in Rashida’s Croydon career was last October when an Ofsted monitoring visit found her service had significantly improved outcomes for local families, followed by a 'good' rating for Help and Protection in February this year.

ALSO VIEW Slough's campaigning mum Julie Siddiqui honoured by Queen

Rashida said: “I was startled by the nomination and wasn’t expecting it.

"When you deliver improvements for children, it’s a team effort. Social workers are key players who build relationships to help families bring about positive change. As a leader I believe if you give people the right environment with the right values and support, they flourish and do the job they need to.”