An HM Coastguard officer who has dedicated three decades to keeping lives safe at sea and by the coast has been made an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours List.
Matt Pavitt (49) is Divisional Commander for East Anglia and Southeast England. Based in Kent, he is responsible for overseeing teams coordinating and responding to maritime emergencies.
For Matt, who grew up in North Cornwall and started out working on fishing boats, becoming a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to maritime safety was “an honour and a real privilege”.
Matt admitted to nearly missing out on the award after mistakenly putting the Cabinet Office letter into the recycling bin. It was only the smart envelope that prompted him to double-check.
Matt said: “I could not believe it when I opened it. I was rushing at home because I was about to get in the car and go on leave, but something made me go back, take it out the bin and check it. I really could not believe it.
“I just turn up every day and do my job with an incredible team. There are lots of people in this organisation, and partners, who do incredible things every day who I have been lucky enough to work with.
“I am lucky to be able go home every day and think: We made a difference today – whether successful rescues or those moments when you can still be there, doing your best, for someone whose loved one has sadly not come home.”
Matt added: “My wife and daughter deserve this honour, really. Families often get forgotten but they are the ones who have waited for me with a hug and a smile when I’ve been working late or missed important family events. I couldn't do it without them.”
Since first joining HM Coastguard in 1998, one of Matt's most memorable moments was responding to a capsized Belgian fishing vessel between Christmas and New Year.
One of the crew had scrambled onto the upturned vessel where he was spotted at dawn. The search for the remaining crew was sadly unsuccessful.
Matt went to the hospital to talk to the rescued man and gather information to aid the search. When the survivor was discharged, Matt was able to assist him onto safe passage to Calais where the fisherman was met by his wife. They remain in touch to this day.
Deputy Chief Coastguard John Craig said: "Matt has been a tireless servant of HM Coastguard and its more than 200-year-old mission of search and rescue on the sea and coast of the UK.
“Matt thoroughly deserves this national recognition and everyone at HM Coastguard is extremely proud to count him as a colleague.”
Matt’s lifesaving career began in 1994 as an RNLI volunteer at Walmer lifeboat station after moving to Kent with his parents. In 1998 he joined HM Coastguard, now part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, working until 2002 as a Coastguard Watch Assistant (now Maritime Operations Officer) at Dover Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC).
Following a seven-year break at the Port of Dover and as a lifeboat helmsman with the RNLI, in 2009 he was back with HM Coastguard, this time as a Watch Officer (now Senior Maritime Operations Officer) at Dover MRCC.
He moved to frontline operations in 2010 by becoming a Sector Manager (now Senior Coastal Operations Officer) back in north Cornwall, overseeing Coastguard Rescue Teams responding to incidents along miles of busy shoreline.
He was promoted to Coastal Operations Area Commander in 2014, relocating again to Kent. Earlier this year he was made Divisional Commander for East Anglia and Southeast England.
