ACTOR Leslie Phillips headed an armada of north London appointees by receiving a CBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list

ACTOR Leslie Phillips headed an armada of north London appointees by receiving a CBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list. The Maida Vale TV veteran is probably best known for his catchphrases "Hellooo" and "Ding dong" as well as appearing in the Carry On films and the Doctor series of movies.

However the 83-year-old also recently proved that his acting talents extend far beyond slapstick by starring in the film Venus. Mr Phillips and Peter O'Toole played a pair of ageing actors long past their prime. The role earned him a Bafta nomination and won him a British Independent Film Award.

Although he made a career playing posh Englishmen, Mr Phillips did not come from aristocratic stock. He was born in Tottenham and spoke in cockney tones until he took elocution lessons as part of his training at the Italia Conti Stage School.

Founder and chief executive of the mental health charity Sane Marjorie Wallace has been awarded a CBE. She was appointed an MBE 10 years ago and has campaigned relentlessly for sufferers of mental illnesses.

She said: "This is all rather grand. Being a Commander of the British Empire I feel I should have a fleet of ships under my control. Obviously I am thrilled because mental illness is still very unfashionable so it's very good to see the issue up there amongst all the celebrities in the honours list.

"This is not so much an accolade for me or for Sane but for the people who have the courage to go on fighting mental illnesses. I still believe mental pain is the most agonising."

Ms Wallace, who founded Sane in 1986, started out as an investigative journalist for the Sunday Times and admits surprised at the route her life has taken.

She said: "Becoming a pillar of the establishment is the last thing that would have crossed my mind. I was trying to route-out the establishment. I set out with absolutely no intention of becoming involved in charity. I said I would do this for two years and the two years just extended to 21. People mostly get these awards when they are leaving but I have no intention of stepping down. I will battle on and I just hope this brings more credit to the work we do."

Ms Wallace, who has been compared to Charles Dickens for her role in highlighting social problems, was also named one of the people who shaped the 21st century healthcare in a National Portrait Gallery show.

The man in charge of the University College London Hospital trust has been knighted in recognition of his efforts in transforming it into a world-class centre of medicine.

Robert Naylor, 58, said the honour is a testament to everyone working at UCLH - which he regards as the flagship hospital for the NHS. "It's wonderful to be knighted," said Mr Naylor, who lives in Chester Terrace in Regent's Park. "It is a fantastic tribute to everything which has been done here over the seven years I have been chief executive."

A state-of-the-art facility opened in Euston Road in 2005 which runs alongside six other leading hospitals within the trust.

Last year UCLH was ranked among the top five biomedical research centres in the country and will be instrumental in the new medical development on land behind the British Library in King's Cross.

"This £500million development will stitch medicine and new discovery together to benefit patients," he said.

West Hampstead literary scholar Professor Brian Vickers, 70, who lives off Abbey Road, has also been knighted in recognition of his lifetime of study into classical authors including William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon and John Ford. He is currently a senior fellow at the University of London's School of Advanced Study.

"I'm very happy at being knighted - astonished, and humbled," said the father-of-four. "I've been in West Hampstead since my retirement in 2002, and it's a lovely place to live. I've become a regular in the congregation at Hampstead Parish Church.

"Working hard and staying busy keeps me feeling young."

Eminent social scientist Roger Jowell, who lives in Eton Avenue in Swiss Cottage, said his first reaction was astonishment and embarrassment when he found out he was to be honoured with a knighthood.

"My first reaction was puzzlement and surprise. Social science is a field that is generally underrepresented in the honours. It is very much in recognition of the work in the field rather than as me as an individual.''

He came to the UK from South Africa in the 1960s where he was active in left wing politics. He was elected as a member of Camden Council until 1978. In that period he married and later divorced Tessa Jowell.

In 1969 he and Gerald Hoinville founded the Social & Community Planning Research, which later became the London based National Centre for Social Research. In 2003 he joined City University London full time and set up the Centre for Comparative Social Surveys.

His main research interests are in changing social and political attitudes and survey methodology.

Barbican Centre managing director Nicholas Kenyon, who lives in Constantine Road in Hampstead, has been knighted. He moved to the job in October after 12 successful seasons as director of the BBC proms.

"This is a fantastic honour, and it certainly shows the importance of classical music and the arts in our lives. It is recognition of all the work by colleagues at the BBC and throughout the profession who made the BBC Proms over the last decade such a thriving, flourishing event," he said.

He started his career as a music critic for the likes of the New Yorker, The Times and The Observer. In 1992 he was appointed controller of BBC Radio 3 and director of the Proms in 1996.

Social care champion Enid Mae Levin from West Hampstead has been awarded an MBE.

The 64-year-old from Salusbury Road, was practice development manager at the Social Care Institute for Excellence until last year.

She said: "It is a great prize and a great privilege and it was a complete surprise. I'm extremely pleased - it's great for social care.

"I think the most important and exciting thing for the profession now is how we make the new departments that are focussed on children work in conjunction with adult services. And especially the services for children whose parents have drug and alcohol abuse problems and mental health issues."

Ms Levin worked extensively on research for people with Alzheimer's disease and was recently involved in a piece of research at the Royal Free Hospital's old age psychiatry department.

The tireless work of a West Hampstead woman in supporting Holocaust survivors and refugees has been commended this year.

Judith Hassan, 61, director of services for Holocaust Survivors and Refugees at charity Jewish Care, has been awarded an OBE.

Ms Hassan founded the Holocaust Survivors' Centre in Hendon 14 years ago and has supported numerous survivors in the area.

The honour comes just weeks after Ms Hassan was given a Lifetime Achievement in Care Award from the prestigious National Care Awards.

"It is a great honour to be given public recognition of my lifetime's work with people who have suffered so severely," she said.

"The OBE has been given to me personally for the work that I have done but it also reflects on the important role that Jewish Care has played in helping me to reach this stage. I am thrilled."

Ms Hassan has a degree in psychology and trained as a social worker specialising in elderly people suffering with mental health issues.

Through the Hendon centre she has helped dozens deal with the emotional trauma of surviving the Holocaust.

She also wrote her first book, A House Next Door to Trauma: Learning from Holocaust Survivors How to Respond to Atrocity in 2003.

Alec Ward, a survivor of two ghettos, three slave labour camps and two concentration camps, paid tribute to her service.

"Since joining the centre our lives have been greatly enriched because of Judith's love, care and devotion and her outstanding expertise. The OBE is well deserved and we are delighted for her."

Successful Highgate businessman John Condron has been appointed a CBE.

The 58-year-old chief executive of the Yell Group plc, most famous for producing the Yellow Pages, was given the award for his services to business.

Mr Condron, a graduate from Queen's University in Belfast, began his career with Yell in the marketing department back in 1980 when it was still part of BT.

He progressed up the ladder and was appointed as managing director of Yellow Pages Group in 1994 and continued as chief executive when it was sold by BT in 2001.

Mr Condron has also served as chairman of the Directory Publishers Association, chairman of the Jurors for the European Quality Awards and was a member of the government's advisory committee on advertising.

John Sorrell from Highgate has been awarded a Knighthood for his services to creative industries. The South Grove resident is the chairman of the Sorrell Foundation, which aims to inspire creativity in young people.

The foundation, set up in 1999, runs programmes to help pupils explore how good design can improve the quality of life in education. The Foundation also opened a Young Design Centre in Somerset House earlier this year.

Sir John is also chairman of the London Design Festival. More than 300,000 people attended the event in September, which had 200 projects and has quickly become one of the worlds most important design events.

The top boss at the British Library has been made a Dame in the honours.

Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the Euston Road institution since 2000 was awarded the honour for her work in education.

She said: "I am truly delighted. It is of course a great personal honour but it is also a tribute to my many talented colleagues at the British Library and in the library and information profession.

"It is particularly pleasing that the citation is for services for education. In a world focused on information, expanding access to knowledge - in schools, universities, and through lifelong learning - is vital to all our futures."

Ms Brindley was formerly pro-vice chancellor of Leeds University, a senior consultant with KPMG and held management roles at both the London School of Economics and Ashton University.

And she wasn't the only figure from the library given a gong.

Dr John Ashworth, chairman of the British Library Board from 1996 until 2000 was also given a knighthood for his public service.

Former artistic director of the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Ian Talbot has received an OBE for services to drama. The actor-turned-director has been involved with the theatre since 1971 when he first starred as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He then became artistic director - a role he filled for 20 years until December last year when he left for pastures new.

Mr Talbot said: "I am amazed that I have got the OBE. It brings that 20-year chapter of my life to a very nice end. I am looking forward to not looking up at the sky all summer. But it is a lovely place to work - I enjoyed it very much and it gave me a lot of opportunities. I am not retiring now but I am going back to acting for a bit and then possibly directing a new musical in the autumn. I am very pleased about the honour."

Former English cricketer Clive Thornton Radley, now head coach at Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's, has received an MBE.

He played eight tests and four one day internationals for England and was chosen as Wisden cricketer of the year in 1979.

His batting average in tests (48.1) was substantially higher than he achieved in all first-class cricket (35.44) even though he did not make his test debut until he was 33.

He had a long illustrious career with Middlesex between 1964 and 87 and scored 26,441 runs in 559 matches, making 46 hundreds, with a best of 200.

On his retirement as a player he became head coach at Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's in succession to Don Wilson.

An equal rights activist who lives in Camden Town has been awarded a CBE.

Angela Mason, 63, was the third director of the UK-based Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender lobbying organisation Stonewall from 1992 to 2002.

Since 2003 she has been director of the Government's Women and Equality Unit. She has also been a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission and an advisor to the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. She was awarded the OBE in 1999.

Kathleen Esther Bryan has received an MBE for her services to disabled people in north London. She is the chairwoman of Inner London Scope which runs a monthly social club for disabled adults at the Age Concern Centre in Maida Vale. There is an informal information and support service for club members.

For his services to the finance industry Marylebone resident Martin Allan Hall has received an MBE. The former director general of the Finance and Leasing Association, Mr Hall retired in July this year.

Dr Mary Ursula Hickey, a general medical practitioner in Westminster received an MBE for her services to medicine.

A Westminster hostel manager for Look Ahead, Diane Elizabeth Smith, received an MBE for her services to homeless people.

Look Ahead is a charitable housing association which provides vulnerable people with accommodation plus the care and support services they need to live independent lives.

And Edward Wilson, who has most recently been a street cleaner, received an MBE for his services to local government in the city of Westminster.

Music producer and DJ, Jazzie B (real name Trevor Beresford Romeo), who lives in Parkway, Camden Town, has received an OBE for his services to music.

Maurice Bennett, who receives a CBE for services to retailing, left school at 14 to work for his family's company and went on to acquire several chain stores along with his brother Michael. They have owned womenswear labels Coast and Phase Eight, the Warehouse Group and Oasis.

A Kentish Town writer has been awarded an MBE for services to the fashion industry. Colin McDowell is a fashion historian and writer and a regular broadcaster on television and radio. He is visiting professor at the London Institute, chairman of the Costume Society of Great Britain and is the Senior Fashion Writer at the Sunday Times.

His most recent book, Fashion Today, is a survey of modern

fashion trends and cultural influences from 1947 to the current collections.