A children's service manager says she feels "humbled" to have been recognised in the Queen's New Year Honours list.

Pretty Nkiwane, who is a service manager for children’s services at Hertfordshire County Council, was awarded an MBE for her outstanding commitment to children’s social care during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Nkiwane received the accolade for her hard work and dedication to safeguarding children, working with young people, families and social workers to achieve the best outcomes during these challenging times.

Commenting on her MBE nomination, Ms Nkiwane said: "I feel so humbled to receive such an honour and l must say this is part of teamwork with colleagues and staff in my service.

"I receive this on behalf of all my colleagues within family safeguarding services who have worked so tirelessly and in particular during the Covid pandemic. Their commitment to the children in our community is second to none."

Ms Nkiwane, whose social work career began in Zimbabwe, has spent more than 19 years working at the county council where she has also helped implement the trailblazer Hertfordshire family safeguarding model and introduce a frontline programme programme for social working training and recruitment.

She follows in the footsteps of her grandfather who was awarded the equivalent of an MBE in 1957 for his work within local government in Malawi. Ms Nkiwane thanked her family for the "greatest" support they show her in her line of work.

Jo Fisher, who is executive director of children’s services at Hertfordshire County Council, said: "We are immensely proud of Pretty whose MBE is so richly deserved in recognition of her diligent and dedicated work to the children, young people and families of Hertfordshire.

"Her work during the pandemic was critical in ensuring that children and families received the support they needed during this very difficult couple of years."

Related: Hertfordshire people named in New Year Honours list