A BROMSGROVE man who has dedicated much of his life to arts organisations said it was like "a bolt out of the blue" when he learnt that he was to receive an MBE.

James Page was delighted to have won the award but said thanks must also be given to the teams of people who have supported him over the years.

The 69-year-old has been given the award for services to the Local and National Voluntary Arts Organisations.

In 1963, he started Bromsgrove Concerts, of which he became chairman.

"This is quite a high-profile organisation in the classical musical field," he said. "I had a wonderful team of people working with me."

Mr Page, who is married to Frances and has two children, retired from the post of chairman two years ago.

"I'm still chairman of the Housman Society and have been for the past 14 years," he said. "We've had quite a successful time. The society has even managed to get a window dedicated to Housman in Westminster Abbey."

Mr Page has also been involved with Making Music, which was formerly known as the National Federation of Music Societies.

More recently he has been involved with The Finzi Friends, which celebrates the work of English composer Gerald Finzi.

"I've really enjoyed my time with these groups but it's fair to say that it's taken up a lot of my spare time," said the retired headteacher of Bromsgrove Lower School.

"Not only am I pleased for myself but for the organisations I'm associated with."

* He was driving force

AMBULANCEMAN Vincent Smith, who has been awarded the MBE, was the driving force behind Kidderminster securing essential heart defibrillators.

The town's former assistant divisional manager spent 37 years with the Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service before retiring in April last year.

Mr Smith was the inspiration behind scores of fund-raising drives to raise enough money for more than six defibrillators in the 1980s - which cost around £5,000 apiece.

"He was Mr Kidderminster, given that everybody in the town knew him," said the service's director of operations Steve McGuiness. "He was a real stalwart for the service.

"His whole life revolved around ambulances. That was what endeared him to the public and there was no way we could have raised that kind of money without him. That's how popular he was."

Mr Smith, of Fairfield Lane, Wolverley, joined the ambulance service in April 1962.

* Reward for a job-finder

A MAN who helps other people find jobs has been rewarded with an MBE.

Roger Price, from Defford, near Pershore, has been working within job centres since he left school 40 years ago.

From starting out in an unemployment benefit office, he is now responsible for job centres across the West Midlands, South West and Wales.

"It's always a joy when someone less fortunate than you, in that they don't have a job, manages to find something in terms of work," said Mr Price, who is 56. "That's what we're all doing."

The former King's Norton Grammar School pupil has seen thousands of people gain work since starting out.

He gradually rose through the ranks to become manager of the Worcester branch.

He is now stationed in Birmingham where his current position is as a senior executive officer, employment service, within the Department for Education and Employment.

Mr Price is also the chairman of Defford cum Besford Parish Council.