- Who
- Anne Baker
- What
- 106 years 231 days year(s):day(s)
- Where
- United Kingdom (Salisbury)
- When
The oldest person appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) is writer and charity volunteer Anne Isobel Baker (UK, b. 14 May 1914), who was aged 106 years 231 days old when her honour was announced in The Gazette on 31 December 2020. Baker, who been engaged in fundraising activities for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) since the 1950s, was acknowledged for her "charitable services" and collected her medal from the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire on 23 July 2021.
According to her local diocese, for more than 30 years, Baker hosted a weekly coffee morning at her home in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK, to raise funds for the NSPCC, until the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to the gatherings. Undeterred, she established a JustGiving donation page and continued her efforts online. "I'm very fond of children, and I think they're our future," said Baker in an interview discussing her honour. "And I felt the NSPCC were really good about children."
The Gazette – aka The London Gazette – is Britain's oldest newspaper, providing an official public record since 1665. As well as publishing royal proclamations and commissions in the Armed Forces, it also formally announces appointees to the various orders of chivalry and merit, including the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.