A doctor and founding trustee of Watford New Hope has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list.

Dr Tim Robson said he was “pleased and honoured” to have been recognised for his services to the homeless in Hertfordshire.

He is a founding trustee of the New Hope charity, which he chaired between 1991 and 2008, before he quit his practice to launch the Meadowell Surgery to offer enhanced care to the homeless in 2003.

Dr Robson told the Observer: “I’m honoured and very pleased particularly because these sorts of services are so important so it is good to see them recognised, as they don’t happen by themselves.

“My family are very thrilled and say it is well deserved but my patients haven’t found out yet – which may change now!”

Dr Robson qualified as a doctor in 1975 at the London Hospital and worked in a refugee camp in Thailand before he began working in Watford in 1983 where his interest in homelessness developed.

But it was the tragic death of one of his patients – a homeless man who died during his sleep in Watford town in 1987 – which sparked Dr Robson to step up his campaign to help those in need.

Dr Robson met Janet Hosier who - along with Sheila Meaning - had been inviting people living on the streets of the town to stay in her home, inspiring the formation of the New Hope charity in 1990.

He said: “The man was sleeping rough, was blind drunk and died after catching fire on Christmas Day.

“That was the moment that really started me off as we couldn’t have this going on and that’s how I met Janet. I supported the charity which naturally led on to setting up the doctors’ surgery.

“It fills me with pride that we created something that is sustainable. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need them but that isn’t going to happen, so you want them to be sustainable and to grow.”

He chaired the charity, which celebrates its 25 anniversary later this year, for 17 years and still remains an active trustee.

The Meadowell, based in Cassio Road next to New Hope’s Haven Support Centre, offers care to the homeless - such as managing substance misuse, alcohol problems and mental health issues.

Visit www.meadowell.co.uk for more information on the surgery and www.newhope.org.uk to learn more about the homeless charity.