Today is proud day for a select group of Oxfordshire community stalwarts.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours list was unveiled and it is full of the great and good.

Our double page spread is a round-up of the people who make this county tick.

From the chief executive of the county council to eminent professors in their field.

However, what is heartwarming are the people who would never expected to be rubbing shoulders with such company.

And that is what makes the list so special.

Today we feature the story of Christine Burden, who will become a CBE.

Christine will be known to hundreds of people in East Oxford her work with the Sweet Memories Club.

In ten years, she has transformed a simple coffee morning into a life for lots of pensioners in the area.

The only reason she did it was because of her fear that the elderly had nowhere to go to meet friends.

Her response to the news was typically modest. But it is people like Christine who deserve days like these.

Similarly, Jill McCleery, who has given so much to the city and its schools. And for no expectation of a reward.

She has been a governor at St Ebbe’s Primary School for 35 years, but her role in the community has meant so much more.

Every one in the list makes for a great and touching read.

It also makes you ponder what extra effort we could all put in.