Charity founder Karen Harvey from Upwell receives honour from King Charles at investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace

An Upwell woman who has helped homeless people with a charity she helped set up had a date with the King recently at Buckingham Palace.

Karen Harvey attended an investiture ceremony to receive her Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) awarded to her in King Charles’ birthday honours back in June.

She was given the honour in recognition of her services to people living in hygiene poverty, to considerate consumption, and to the environment.

She founded Toiletries Amnesty (TA) in 2014 for one homeless shelter in Cambridge, using spare, unwanted, or unused toiletry products, and the project has grown to provide more than 800 charitable organisations in the UK and worldwide.

She has built up TA without any funding and has put her energy into the project, not just through creating a now comprehensive directory of where people can donate, but sometimes driving across the UK to deliver items to organisations in need.

By providing access to vital products such as toothpaste and brushes, soap, and sanitary products, TA ensures people have what they need when they need it.

In 2023, it provided access to toiletries and hygiene essentials to four million people and diverted hundreds of thousands of products from landfill.

Karen, who described receiving the honour as a “ joy and a privilege”, has also been named in the Future Icon Power People list, alongside King Charles, Feargal Sharkey and David Attenborough.

The list celebrates 50 visionary innovators who are actively shaping a more sustainable, equitable, and compassionate world, and Karen is listed at number 29 – above the King who is placed at number 30 as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales who are jointly named at 39.