We all read a lot about how society is falling apart at the seams, but there is still a lot of goodwill out there. Here we salute some of the community-minded heroes of the past year.

TODAY is inevitably a day of looking back over the year. So we're taking a look back at some of the people who've been mentioned on this page during the past 12 months. Each week we get plenty of nominations for good shops, kind and caring hospitals, dentists, doctors, and good neighbours.

If ever you think we live in a selfish society, then think again. We get plenty of letters praising good neighbours, even helpful teenagers and many, many times we hear from people who have been grateful for the kindness of strangers - in slips and falls, stalled cars, locked cars, lost keys, lost dogs, lost wallets, abandoned shopping - strangers have helped, often anonymously.

All through the region we have people keeping an eye on elderly neighbours, doing their shopping, taking them for hospital appointments, cutting the grass. Neighbours also keep an eye on mums with young children and anyone who is sick, down or had an accident. And, again, although the majority of helpful neighbours tend to be older, there have been plenty of teenagers and children who have been quick to do good turns, unasked, for their neighbours.

It's when we're ill that we appreciate care and concern the most. By far and away the most nominated hospital this year - again - was the Eye Unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital. But we also had lots of letters about Darlington Memorial Hospital, North Tees, Shotley Bridge, Bishop Auckland General and University of Durham - so there are lots of places getting things right a lot of the time.

We also had quite a few mentions of GPs, dentists and chemists, who do their best to make sure patients get their prescriptions quickly and easily.

Then there are shops and firms. Service with a smile might be unheard of in some parts of the world, but up here it's still, happily, flourishing. There are plenty of little shops and small companies who provide excellent service and there are plenty of people working for big national firms who make time to ensure customers are well looked after. Asda was the most often mentioned company this year - particularly their stores at Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor and B&Q kept cropping up, as did Ottakar's in Darlington.

There are a number of organisations that crop up regularly throughout the year. Boots seem to have well trained staff who also seem to be naturally nice. We've had a lot of praise from passengers - sorry, customers - for the staff of Darlington Railway Station and this year it was good that the railway staff could return the compliment after passengers had come to the aid of a member of staff who was being abused by an unpleasant character.

All in all, as you say again and again, it does a lot of restore your faith in the basic decency and kindness of most people.

All through the year we have plenty of nominations. Our problem is that each week there can only be one winner, so this week, thanks to Nattrass the florist and The Little Chocolate Shop in Leyburn, we are able to go back through our files and give some chocs or flowers to people who just missed out first time round.

One of our earliest was landlord Stephen Longhorn and regulars of the Brown Trout in Sunnybrow near Willington. A reader nominated him for putting on a surprise birthday party for granddaughter's 21st birthday and mentioned in passing that he'd "raised lots of money for different charities".

That's a bit of an understatement. In the last three years the Brown Trout has raised over £30,000 with bingo nights, karaoke, horse racing and a two-day fun spectacular with over 2,000 people and which this year included the UK's largest reverse bungee jump. That event alone raised £7,000, divided between the Butterwick Hospice and Macmillan Nurses.

It's a terrific achievement. We think the Brown Trout has done amazingly and as a very small mark of our appreciation, we're sending them some chocs, courtesy of The Little Chocolate Shop.

It's been a busy year for post offices. Those that have survived have had all sorts of difficulties to cope with, including the phasing out of pension books, which has not always been straightforward. So well done particularly to staff at Eastbourne Road Post office in Darlington - who get some flowers courtesy of Nattrass. A particularly poignant award since the Eastbourne post office closes next week.

We've had a lot of letters this year about chemists, who really seem to be going out of their way to help customers who, by the very nature of their business, often tend to be ill or infirm. So well done to staff at Carling Chemist in Darlington for making life a bit easier. We're sending them a box of chocs.

And whoever said the traditional family is dead can't live up here. We had lots of nominations for mothers, daughters, sisters, sons-in-law who virtually put their lives on hold to help another family member through a bad patch. Mrs Merritt of Darlington had two hip operations last year and as a result completely lost her confidence, but her daughter and son-in-law, who both work full time, looked after her, did her housework and travelled nearly every day from Stockton to Bishop Auckland to visit her in hospital. It's a typical story, one of many, but we're sending the Merritts a box of chocs.

Small businesses are constantly being swamped by the multinationals, but still survive, often thanks to the good service they offer. Typical of some of the many small firms who get mentioned throughout the year are Darlington and Teesside Domestics who had a cooker installed and running within an hour of the order being placed, and who get a bouquet. And Neil Hocking, the butcher who's taken over John Forster's shop, in Spennymoor, and where the staff serve up jokes and smiles along with the meat. So they get some chocs.

A number of restaurants and bars get mentioned for their good food and super service, but it's definitely the Italians who have the knack of turning a meal into a special occasion. So, we are sending a bouquet to the staff of Sardis in Darlington for making a 90th birthday party unforgettable in the nicest possible way. In among all the many nominations for different aspects of the NHS, it is hard to pick out one, but we've chosen Sister Gloria Cooke, of the pain relief clinic at Darlington Memorial Hospital, for all the hard work she puts in. It is not the most glamorous arm of the NHS but it's one of the most basic and the most appreciated, so Gloria gets one of our bouquets from Nattrass.

And that's it for another year. Many thanks to all those people who make the world a nicer place. And many thanks as well to all those of you who've told us about them.