PEOPLE who have done a great job for their community can be nominated for an Honour.

Friends, colleagues, relatives as well as sports and community leaders can all be put forward to receive an award, including a BME, OBE and MBE.

Government officials are hoping to get more nominations from the region after statistics showed that, despite the West Midlands representing 8.9 per cent of the country's population, over the last two years it had received on average under 6.5 per cent of all honours.

Anyone can nominate someone for an award and anyone can receive an award if they reach the required standard of merit or service.

All recommendations are considered by one of nine independent expert honours committees, each chaired by an independent non-Civil Service chair and comprising a majority of independent members, all selected after open advertisement.

Dr Angus Kennedy, from Birmingham, who serves on one of the independent honours committees, said: “I would love to see more people from Herefordshire and Worcestershire being nominated as I know so much great work is done here which should receive recognition.

“Anyone can be put forward for an honour and we are looking for people who have made a real difference in their community or field of work.”

The nomination process usually takes around 18 months from the date the nomination is made to the time a successful candidate appears on an honours list, while the facts are checked and supportive comments obtained.

Information and a nomination form can be found at www.gov.uk/honours or by calling 020 7276 2777.