A MINISTER fighting against homophobia, a Game of Thrones star and a 95-year-old charity worker are among the Scots included on the New Year Honours list.

David Duke receives an MBE for dedicating himself to helping others out of hardship after being homeless himself.

Duke was living rough in Glasgow when he saw an advert for the 2003 Homeless World Cup in Sweden, and four years later was leading the Scotland team to World Cup victory.

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In 2009, Duke founded Street Soccer Scotland to help other people experience the transforming power of sport.

Also on the list is Susan Rice, the chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and Scottish Water, who has been made a dame for services to business, the arts and charity.

A knighthood has been awarded to the Very Reverend Professor Iain Torrance, a minister who helped the Church of Scotland combat homophobia.

Torrance said he was “literally speechless” to have been given the award for services to higher education and theology. He convened the Kirk’s theological forum, which addressed questions relating to same-sex marriage, until May 2017.

Two of the most high-profile Scots to receive honours were Game Of Thrones star James Cosmo and record-breaking cyclist Mark Beaumont.

Veteran actor Cosmo was given an MBE for services to drama, having also starred in films including Braveheart, Trainspotting and Highlander. Beaumont is being recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM). The 34-year-old received the award after undertaking a second record-breaking bike trip around the world this year.

The same award went to 95-year-old Margaret Jamieson for services to the community and charity.

Known as Rita to friends and family, she started local charity work in the 1930s to provide people with furniture and goods they needed free of charge.

In more recent years, she established the Blue Door in Kirkwall, a shop which is offered rent-free to a different Orkney based organisation each week.

Alan and Jennifer McIntosh also receive BEMs in the honours list for their work with the Boys’ Brigade. They have been involved with the 1st Buckie Company for a combined total of 95 years, growing the Moray group from 10 members to one of the UK’s largest.

Hamish Dean, the 70-year-old pipe major of Huntly and District Pipe Band, will also receive a British Empire Medal, after playing with the band for 55 years. Kay MacKay, 76, from the Isle of Lewis, receives an MBE for dedicating more than 35 years to fundraising for Cancer Research UK.

Balwant Singh Chadha – who is known as Bob – is given the same honour for services to local government and community cohesion in the west of Scotland. The 79-year-old served for more than 50 years as a Justice of the Peace. He was elected to North Lanarkshire Council in 1995, and only stepped down this year.

Notable non-Scots on the honours list include TV presenter Eamonn Holmes, The Beatles’ Ringo Starr, and Bee Gees co-founder Barry Gibb.