A PARALYMPIAN and teaching assistant at a school in Thornbury has spoken of a “wonderful” day at Buckingham Palace to collect the MBE.

Mike Spence, 57, who lives in Lower Stone, received the honour for “services to education and disability sport” in the New Years Honours list, having been involved with Manorbrook School for the past 20 years and carving out an illustrious career in Wheelchair Rugby.

Having been confined to a wheelchair after a car accident, Mike turned his hand to sport, representing Team GB at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, and later as head coach to the victorious British team at the 2014 Invictus Games.

The nomination for the governor turned teaching assistant, followed a nomination by former head teacher Angela Evans, who put Mike up for a South Gloucestershire Council Chair’s award in 2015, which also saw him win the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire award, thereby making him eligible to be put forward to the award.

The news that he had been granted the honour came last November, when an official looking letter came through the door.

Mike, who said he had to re-read the letter several times after originally thinking it would be for jury service, said: “I was amazed, completely in shock, and very humbled. It just came out of the blue and I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

“Sadly I was told I could not let anyone aside from close family know I had been given an MBE, but when I told my wife Debbie, it turned out she had been in on the application process all along.”

Mike, along with Debbie and their two sons Jack and Toby, were invited to the investiture ceremony on May 12 at Buckingham Palace, with the honours being presented by the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William.

Getting a lime green taxi to the palace, Mike said how he reckoned his driver thought it was a windup when he was given the official letter to hand to the palace guards to get in.

He said however that he found their bold entrance was relatively low-key by comparison to some of the other guests.

“There were so many people arriving in Jaguars and Bentleys, and there we were in a luminous green cab,” he joked.

When he got in and was ushered in the waiting room he said how much he enjoyed meeting the other guests on the special day.

“There were so many interesting people there to talk to,” he said. “People from all ends of the spectrum, and it was really nice to chat with them all and find out what they had been honoured for.”

He said how, despite the rules and procedures everyone had to follow, the whole day was very “relaxed” and the prince himself was very engaging.

“We had a really great chat,” he said. “He knew all about my work at the school and in sport. As he and his brother had been so involved in the Invictus Games, he really knew what he was talking about.”

“I actually started to get a bit embarrassed as there were so many people still waiting to meet him and there he was chatting away like he wasn’t going to stop!”

He said how “wonderful” it was wonderful to have his family there on the special day, paying tribute to their support through the years, both at the school and in his sporting career.

He also thanked Angela Evans for ensuring his nomination, and everyone at Manorbrook and GB Wheelchair Rugby for their continued support.

To celebrate the honour with the school, Mike also brought the medal in on Wednesday, giving a talk in assembly about his visit to the palace and what the award means.