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Last Wednesday, Arsenal legend Bob Wilson visited Buckingham Palace to accept his OBE from The Queen.
The award recognises three specific phases of Bob’s career: his involvement with sport, his contribution to the media and his devotion to the Willow Foundation — the charity he founded with his wife, Megs, following the death of their daughter, Anna, to cancer aged 31. Bob attended the ceremony at Buckingham Palace with Megs and his sons, John and Robert Wilson.
"My initial reaction to the OBE was one of slight shock because it was not my wife, Megs, who was getting it," admitted Bob.
"I was surprised because she listened very carefully to our daughter Anna during her journey with cancer. Megs put in so much hard work in setting up the Willow Foundation and she asked me to help raise funds.
"Obviously being the Arsenal goalie has helped give the Foundation a public face but I did think initially about turning the OBE down. But I took advice and I realised that it was incredible recognition for the charity overall.
"We began as a very small charity in Hertfordshire and have grown from a small back bedroom in the family home and just the two of us working to where we are now with 33 full-time staff, requiring £3.5 million a year, and now giving 1,400 of our 'special days' to young adults.
"My friends and relatives advised me to take the award for the Willow Foundation and the work we have done over nine years."
Bob also pointed out that his daughter Anna would have wanted him to accept the OBE.
"I think Anna would be proud about the OBE," he said. "She would look at the Willow Foundation and see that she is up there every time we show the DVD, every time we talk about what we did it, we use her words. She would think it was crazy but she would have told me that it would be stupid not to accept the award.
"The day itself was extraordinary - Anna's brothers were there, Meg was there, and it was an extraordinary experience for all of us. What really struck us was the other recipients. The biggest impact was that it reminded us we are at war because a quarter of the awards given out were for gallantry, for youngsters who have been in service in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Bob joined Arsenal in 1963, making over 300 first-team appearances and gaining international recognition with Scotland. He retired from playing in 1974 but his daily involvement at Arsenal as goalkeeping coach continued until 2003, an incredible 40-year spell with one club.
The Willow Foundation is the only national charity that offers quality of life and quality of time through the provision of special day experiences to seriously ill young adults aged 16-40. From its beginnings in a bedroom at home, Bob and Megs have grown the charity into a national organisation. This year the Foundation will provide more than 1,400 special days to those living with life-threatening conditions such as cancer, motor neurone disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and Huntington’s disease. The charity has an annual turnover exceeding £3 million.