Poole man receives BEM for helping disadvantaged children

In June, Rob Franks was honoured in the list after providing disadvantaged children with laptops throughout Covid.

Rob told the Daily Echo earlier this year that he was “humbled” to be nominated, let alone to win the award altogether.

He said: “You hear so many other people receiving very deserving gongs, but just to be even nominated would have been enough.  

“But to be awarded something is just unreal."

Rob officially received his award on Wednesday, November 20.

The British Empire Medal was awarded to Rob by the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset at Dorset County Hall.

Rob said: "It feels more real now."

He attended the ceremony with his wife Carla and his son Harry, adding that there was only four of them there and the ceremony was very "intimate". 

"I've always said, although my name is on the medal, it's not just for me, it's for everybody that donated, donated laptops, donated money, even people that donated time to share the posts I put up. 

"That's who this is for, it's for everybody who contributed."

He supplied laptops to help children that did not have the necessary equipment to learn from home, aiding children and allowing them to continue with their education without barriers.

Rob stated that he didn’t want children to fall behind, so he took to Facebook to enquire about old, used and even broken laptops that he could fix and give to others.

He said that he was not expecting anything incredible, potentially that he could help out a handful of children.

He received a mind-blowing £10,000 from the public to buy laptops, providing nearly 600 to children across BCP.

Earlier this year he had said: "It was mind blowing how much it affected not only their journey to learning, but it affected me a bit as well because it was like, I'm actually doing good in the community.”

Alongside his great work throughout lockdown, Rob also raises money for the Youth Cancer Trust.