The IoS Happy List 2009

One hundred people who make Britain a better, more caring and contented nation are named today in The Independent on Sunday Happy List, 2009. Set up as an antidote to, say, the Rich List in The Sunday Times, our project includes multimillionaires who give money away rather than rake in huge bonuses; those who devote their lives to the disadvantaged; comedians who cheer us all up; and those unsung heroes of thousands of communities around the land such as the crimefighting milkman, a ridiculously brave lifeboatman, and the dog that brings comfort to the sick.

This is the second year of The IoS Happy List. It attracted attention all round the world last year for acting as a counterweight to all those Rich Lists, Power Lists and Celebrity Lists that worship the moneyed and famous. Instead, our list celebrates some of the people in Britain who give back, enhance the lives of others, and realise that, in an acquisitive society, there's a crying need for values other than materialism.

What we were looking for in Happy List nominees are those who make the lives of strangers happier, more comfortable, or fulfilling. We sought people in all walks of life, from philanthropy and charity work, mental well-being, physical health, pleasure, media, culture, environment, innovation, volunteers and time-givers, community activity, and entertainment.

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In researching our Happy Listers for 2009 we received a great deal of help from government, churches, charities and campaign groups. A full list of them is supplied right.

The results of this two-month search are the 100 people, whose achievements and contributions to the nation's happiness are described on the following pages. The Happy List, we hope, not only does what we set out to do, but contains lots of extraordinary people – and some fun, surprising entrants, too. They include the man behind the country's most eccentric radio station; gang members who now help kids keep out of trouble; the founder of Britain's most outrageous charity walk; the postman of the year; fairy godmothers to the elderly; sick children who have fought illness and disability and now help others to do so; our most beneficial inventors; founders of imaginative charities that have transformed the lives of millions; and many more.

The list is, of course, a wholly artificial exercise, but our hope is that the 100 people here represent values that need trumpeting, and can stand as role models that are more worthy than £100,000-a-week footballers, their shopaholic partners, greedy City slickers and bankers, and those who have done nothing more demanding than inherit lots of money.

Many here, such as nurses, doctors, and the wildlife, heritage and charity activists, were chosen because they represent hundreds of thousands of such folk who make their communities just that little bit happier. They put back, rather than take.

As it would be invidious to rank them, our selections are presented alphabetically. There are bound to be omissions in our list, so nominate those you think should be included below, or via the link at the top of the page.