Michael Andrew Edwards BA is a Scottish author, army reserve officer, charity trustee, dementia campaigner, retired journalist and

Deputy Lord Lieutenant Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

. Mike Edwards was a journalist for 40 years, beginning his career as a trainee reporter for the ''

Inverness Courier ''The Inverness Courier'' is a local, bi-weekly newspaper, published each Tuesday and Friday in Inverness, Scotland. It reports on issues in Inverness and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It is the longest, continually running local newspap ...

'' in 1986. He later switched to radio and worked for

Radio Forth Radio Forth is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Edinburgh, Lothians and Fife. Radio Forth is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Edinburgh and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio network and Greatest Hits Radio ne ...

Radio Tay Radio Tay is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Tayside and northeast Fife in Scotland. Radio Tay is owned and operated by Bauer Radio and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio network of radio stations. ...

and

Moray Firth Radio MFR (Moray Firth Radio) is an Independent Local Radio station based in Inverness, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Moray, Scottish Highlands and North West Aberdeenshire. As of Sept ...

before returning to press journalism as a sports correspondent for ''

The Press and Journal ''The Press and Journal'' is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and Highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspape ...

'' in Inverness. Edwards was one of 120 journalists sacked for being a member of the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

and spent a year on the picket lines. Shortly after his dismissal, Edwards moved to Switzerland and worked in Bern for the World Service of the

Swiss Broadcasting Corporation The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

covering the

fall of the Iron Curtain Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

, the Soviet Coup and the

first Gulf War The Gulf War (1990–1991) was an armed conflict between Iraq and a multinational military coalition led by the United States, triggered by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Persian Gulf War may also refer to: * Shatt al-Arab conflict ...

, before joining

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

in 1993. He is a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

Army Reserve Army Reserve refers to a land-based military reserve force, including: *Army Reserve (Ireland) *Army Reserve (United Kingdom) *Australian Army Reserve *Canadian Army Reserve * New Zealand Army Reserve *United States Army Reserve *United States Navy ...

and was mobilised for active service in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

where he came under repeated enemy fire. In Iraq his tour of duty ended when he reached

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

's river palace in

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

. While in Kabul, he wrote his first novel ''Friendly Fire''. The book was published in April 2006. His second book, ''The Road Home'', an autobiographical travelogue, was published in May 2018. It charts a coast to coast journey across the USA via five places named

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

after his home town, interspersed with his life story as a journalist and soldier. His third book, 'You're Seeing It!' is a volume of autobiography, which focuses on life as a journalist in Scotland, his service while mobilised for operational tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army Reserve officer and an account of life with his elderly mother Margaret, who was living with a diagnosis of dementia, after he took early retirement from STV to care for her. Proceeds from the book will go towards the setting up of a dementia charity which will campaign to have heading the ball banned from football. He retired from journalism in 2019 after 26 years as a reporter with STV. Margaret died in 2019 aged 91. Since his retirement he has devoted his time to charity work, particularly to help military veterans and those living with dementia and their families. He is a trustee of the military charity Erskine,

Erskine Erskine may refer to: Places * Erskine, Renfrewshire Erskine (, , ) is a town in the council areas of Scotland, council area of Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire (historic), historic county of counties of Scotland, the same name, situated in th ...

(charity) the Highlanders museum at Fort George https://www.thehighlandersmuseum.com/ , the Royal Highland Fusiliers trust and is a caseworker forhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine_(charity) the service charity SSAFA https://www.ssafa.org.uk/ When Mike retired from journalism he became an ambassador and campaigner for Alzheimer Scotland https://www.alzscot.org/. Mike is also a volunteer with Crimestoppers Scotland https://crimestoppers-uk.org/campaigns-media/community/Scotland. Mike is a Trustee of Glasgow Humane Society In June 2021, he was appointed

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

. In May 2022 he was named Reservist of the Year. His hobbies are playing the guitar and following Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. He made a cameo appearance in the 100th episode of the STV crime drama ''

Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries ''Killer'' from 6 until 20 Septe ...

'' on Christmas Eve 2009. 20573-92419-22 HIREZ

Edwards was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

for public and charitable service in Scotland and received the honour from His Majesty King Charles III at an investiture in Windsor Castle in July 2023.

Decorations and awards

Operational Service Medal Afghanistan The Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan was a British campaign medals, campaign medal awarded by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom for service by British Armed Forces personnel in support of t ...

The Iraq War Medal The

Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal may refer to: * Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal (1887) * Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal () or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal creat ...

The

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal may refer to: * Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal (1897) * Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal ...

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal The King's Coronation Medal The

Volunteer Reserves Service Medal The Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) is a medal which may be awarded to members of the Volunteer Reserves of all branches of the British Armed Forces - the Royal Naval Reserve, the Royal Marines Reserve, the Army Reserve and the Royal Auxi ...

and four clasps for 30 years service

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Mike Living people People educated at Inverness High School Scottish television presenters STV News newsreaders and journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Deputy lieutenants of Dunbartonshire British Army personnel of the Iraq War British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Highland Fusiliers officers Royal Regiment of Scotland officers