A QUIZMASTER who helped support good causes at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic has been honoured with a British Empire Medal (BEM).

Andrew Wildgoose was named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours at the end of last year.

East Lothian’s Lord Lieutenant Roderick Urquhart held an investiture at Mr Wildgoose’s parents’ home in Dunbar to present the award, where guests and family members were able to witness the ceremony.

Mr Wildgoose, 34, said: “It was really special.

“It was odd with being the honours in the new year and then 11 months later getting the medal.

“We have been really busy and it was nice to have the whole team out and feel it was commemorated now, as we are coming to the end of what was a pretty awful 18 months.”

Mr Wildgoose, who previously stayed in Dunbar and now lives in Edinburgh, has for several years run quiz company Goose’s Quizzes, based in the Capital.

The business now employs a team who collectively oversee up to 45 weekly pub quizzes across the Central Belt.

He received his BEM for services to charitable fundraising during the pandemic, when he adapted his business to provide home-based quizzes using an online streaming platform.

After five months, the re-shaped company had delivered 90 online quizzes, having put together hundreds of quiz questions and marked thousands of answer sheets each week.

The quiz attracts thousands of viewers from all over the world – mainly in the UK but also participants from as far afield as the USA, Kazakhstan and Greenland.

There is no charge for the participants but players can donate if they are able to.

Mr Wildgoose said they had now been able to take the quiz back to pubs and bars, rather than purely being behind computer screens.

And he had been touched by the number of people who had come up to him to say how much the quizzes had helped during lockdown restrictions.

His BEM citation included: “In developing an online version of the traditional pub quiz, families and friends who live apart can virtually group together and form a team to play along. In addition, there is an online chat function which allows individual participants to interact with the quiz hosts and other players, creating a much-needed social community, especially appreciated by those living alone.

“Under his leadership, his entire Goose’s Quizzes team have created an online community offering much-needed social contact during this difficult time.”