Congratulations to Faith Matyszak, who has been awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

She has lived on the Whitehawk Estate in Brighton almost half her life and has helped hundreds of people.

A great-grandmother, Faith has put in 1,000 hours of voluntary time to help others in the past three months alone. She also helped set up the Whitehawk Community Development and Safety Project.

Faith, who is also president of Brighton and Hove District Trades Council, is exactly the sort of person who should be receiving an honour under the revamped system.

Both John Major and Tony Blair have said it must be reformed to recognise more ordinary people doing their bit for society.

It is happening but progress is still painfully slow. A glance down the list continues to show most gongs go to the great and the good.

There are many more unsung heroes in every community as The Argus Achievement Awards demonstrated only last month in Brighton.

Those who choose names to go on the twice-yearly honours list should look for more Faiths rather than going for the safe option of honouring anonymous civil servants.