Jermain Defoe awarded OBE: 'I just want to scream with joy'

But the footballer says it has been 'tough' and over the years there have 'been a lot of tears'

The Bournemouth FC striker set up the Jermain Defoe Foundation in 2013 to support homeless, vulnerable and abused children in St Lucia (Getty)

Jermain Defoe has been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his work with the Jermain Defoe foundation.

The Bournemouth FC striker, who also plays for the England national team, has been involved in a plethora of UK charity projects which aim to help young people.

In 2013 he set up the Jermain Defoe Foundation to support homeless, vulnerable and abused children in St Lucia. The island in the West Indies is his family’s home country, and he has been visiting it since he was a young boy.

“I was truly humbled to receive this award. It’s been a long road for me,” the former Tottenham footballer said at the Queen’s Birthday Honours press briefing.

“When I got the phone call from my mum, I was actually on holiday. She came on to the phone and she basically said to me, 'Are you sitting down?' Naturally, I thought it was bad news so I stood up to prepare myself,” he recalled.

“And then my mum started crying and got emotional and I knew she obviously was not winding me up. It was a real emotional moment.

“I’m sitting here today and I’m delighted and happy and I just want to scream with joy but it’s been tough. There have been a lot of tears over the years. Obviously my relationship with Bradley was really tough. It’s been difficult.”

The former Sunderland player forged a close friendship with Bradley Lowery – a terminally ill six-year-old fan with the rare childhood cancer, neuroblastoma.

He described his relationship with the young Black Cats fan and mascot as the “highlight of his season”, and last July broke down in tears while paying tribute to him just before he died.

“I think about Bradley every day. It was a real unique relationship with Brads. I’m still in contact with his family,” he said.

“The feeling I got from going to the hospital and spending an hour with Bradley after training – it was really special.”

Defoe, who said his football career made him a role model to young children, cast his mind back to the first time he met Bradley. He said their connection had been instantaneous.

“The first time I met Bradley, he came over to me and just jumped into my lap. I just wanted to spend as much time with him as possible because I knew it was a matter of time before the inevitable … All he wanted really was just to get in bed and have a cuddle.”

“I just tried to make the last days as happy as possible for him and it was real special. Obviously, towards the end, it was real tough. When I signed to my new team Bournemouth it was hard because I was so used to having Bradley next to me walking out the tunnel.”

“I did think about Bradley this morning,” he reflected melancholically.

He discussed the success of the Jermain Defoe Foundation – revealing the organisation decided to build another children’s home on St Lucia, because at the time there was only one recognised children’s home on the island. He said the new home would open in the next few weeks.

“When people think about St Lucia, they think about the amazing hotels, the nice beaches, it’s a real honeymoon destination. So we decided to look out for the kids because there are a lot of abused and homeless and disadvantaged kids on the island.”

“I remember as a young kid going to St Lucia and playing football on the streets with my cousins, just trying to emulate the players that I watched on TV and really dreaming of becoming a premier league footballer and representing my country at world cups.”

Defoe was joined at the press conference by British perfumer Jo Malone who was receiving a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for services to the British economy and the GREAT Britain campaign, which showcases the best of what the country has to offer in order to encourage people to visit.

Malone, creator of eponymous Jo Malone perfumery brand, has also set up British luxury fragrance brand Jo Loves. The entrepreneur is a tenacious advocate for small businesses.

Malone, who is most famous for her scented candles, was as shocked as Defoe when she received the accolade. She said the letter could not have come at a better time.

“When I found out I had received a CBE, I was having one of the worst days I can remember,” she said. “I had gone back home and I was sitting on my own and looked at the mail and then saw a letter that said ‘Urgent Downing Street’, and thought, ‘Oh no, now what?’

I opened it and thought, ‘My goodness, they have sent the letter to the wrong person – this isn’t meant for me.’”

“It was a terrible day at work. Things were not working. I’m not going to tell you what it was but I had pitched for something which I had set my heart on. I worked really hard and I really thought it was in my pocket … and I learned that I hadn’t, and then something else happened, and then something else happened.

“So when I opened my letter, I sat with my dog, and cried with a cup of tea, and realised that there is always something out there which will change the landscape of your life.”

She said the ordeal of going from such despondency to complete awe was a “very humbling moment”.

Recalling her trajectory – and the classic rag to riches narrative it followed – she reflected on growing up in a council house in Bexleyheath in Kent.

“I was a young 15-year-old living on a council estate - no qualifications, no education. I was told that I would never make anything of my life. How wrong they were. I did turn it around but I worked very hard and brought my first business from my kitchen sink with four plastic jugs. Within 10 years I had sold that business to one of the biggest giant corporations in the world Estee Lauder."

Malone, a breast cancer survivor, recalled the difficulty of being diagnosed with cancer.

“I was then diagnosed with a very life-threatening form of cancer and spent the next year fighting for my life. I was 38 years old with a four-year-old son, so it was a tough time,” she said.

The pair were joined by Akeela Ahmed, a campaigner who is the founder of She Speaks, We Hear, who was receiving an MBE (Member of the British Empire) for services to Muslim Women. The organisation she founded seeks to empower women from faith communities with a particular emphasis on Muslim women.

Alongside them was entrepreneur Thomas Ilube, was receiving a CBE for services to technology and philanthropy. He was named the country’s most influential black person in the UK and is currently the chief executive of Crossword Cybersecurity.

Kathleen Moore, who has been in the carpentry business for over 37 years and is managing director of Women Into Construction, received an MBE for services to the construction industry.

John Davies received a BEM (British Empire Medal) for services to the community in Waltham Forest in London. Mr Bem, who only has 20 per cent vision, has spent the last 36 years playing an imperative role in the Waltham Forest Talking Newspaper for the blind, Soundwave.