"In the 2001 New Year Honours List, he was awarded the MBE for services to storytelling and charity, and later in the year performed a new collaboration for the Blue Peter Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in London.Combining the fields of education and entertainment, Thomas has toured nationally and internationally, appearing at the Settle Storytelling Festival, Bergen Arts Festival in Norway, the American National Storytelling Festival, and a stint as storyteller-in-residence for the programme of summer residencies at the National Center for Storytelling in Jonesborough, Tennessee in 2006.