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New Year Honours list 2009.

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M2 PRESSWIRE-31 December 2008-UK Government: New Year Honours list 2009(C)1994-2008 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:31122008

The 2009 New Year Honours List is published today, recognising outstanding achievement and service across the whole of the community.

In total 966 people have been recommended to the Prime Minister for an award:

* 827 candidates have been selected at MBE and OBE level, 598 at MBE and 229 at OBE.

* There are 378 successful women candidates in the list, including six Dames, 21 CBEs and one CB. This represents 39% of the total.

* Six per cent of the successful candidates come from ethnic minority communities.

* More than 70% of the recipients are local heroes undertaking outstanding work in their own communities, while 39% are honoured for their work in voluntary and local services.

Honours for Britain's hugely successful Olympians and Paralympians include a knighthood for triple gold medallist Chris Hoy and an MBE for 14-year-old swimmer Eleanor Simmonds, the youngest person ever to receive an honour.

But the sports stars of Beijing make up only a tiny minority of the people on the list. The majority are local heroes from a range of fields, undertaking outstanding work that is having a real impact in the community. They include an MBE for senior nurse Carol Hoy - the mother of cyclist Chris - who is honoured for her exceptional service to healthcare.

Six individuals are honoured for showing real service to others in the midst of the London terrorist bombings in 2005. They include an MBE for Timothy Coulson, who jumped across the tracks and into a damaged Tube train to render first aid.

Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was murdered in 2000, is awarded an MBE for her outstanding services to child protection.

In the fields of Community Voluntary and Local Services (which make up 39% of the...