Jubilee spirit lives on for new patriots

Calderdale’s Mayor, Coun John Hardy, presented the recipients with their certificates, while Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Mrs Chris Harris, handed them their gift to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

To make the occasion even more of a day to remember, 14 members of Siddal Primary School choir sang specially selected songs for the new citizens before the ceremony.

Anya Glew is one of the people who was presented with their certificates and medals. She met the man who was to become her husband, Todmorden musician Billy Glew, when he was playing a series of gigs in the Ukraine in 2008. Love blossomed and the couple were married in August of that year.

“We were married in Ukraine and I moved to the UK with Billy about two weeks later,” says Mrs Glew, who now works as a translator.

To be given a naturalisation certificate, recipients need to have lived in the UK for at least three years. They also have to pass test on what they know about the UK.