Mrs Vernester Cyril a midwife and ward manager at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on 12 November 1999 for services to community relations in South East Wales. Her award was announced on 12 June in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 1999, to celebrate the Queen’s Official Birthday.

Mrs Cyril was born in Castries, the capital of the Eastern Caribbean island of Saint Lucia and emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1962. She expected to be welcomed to the UK with open arms, so was disappointed when the reality turned out to be somewhat different.

Race equality legislation did not yet exist; however, the liberal- thinking Mrs Cyril seized every opportunity to challenge discrimination and promote racial equality, standing up for those who were unable to speak for themselves.