The reaction to our Happy List certainly made us pretty happy. Our cheeky idea – a list of 100 people who have given back, and made the lives of others happier, published to coincide with, and be an antidote to, 'The Sunday Times' Rich List – struck a louder chord than we dared hope. It was reported, and commented upon, by BBC radio and television, commercial radio channels, newspapers and blogs around the world, and even by 'The Wall Street Journal', one of whose commentators was rash enough to ask: "Should the US have a Happy List?" (The answer, from the sub-prime investing classes, was "no".)

But most importantly, the Happy List hit the spot it was aimed at: our own readers. "HD" said it was "a great idea to reflect on those who devote their time and energy to causes for the greater good". But the real satisfaction came from your response to our request for others who should be on the list. We expected a few, but got scores.

Top of the nominations, delivered in such quantity and regularity that it suggested a virtual campaign, was the surgeon Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub. "Natasha" wrote: "He is nothing short of an angel. Because of his contribution he has transformed the face of paediatric heart surgery in Jamaica. His charity Chain of Hope funds the paediatric heart surgery programme in Jamaica. It also visits Jamaica at least twice per year to do more complex heart surgeries for free. He also does this in other developing countries. Professor Yacoub makes people happy by saving their children's lives through his selfless contribution."

Five others endorsed this nomination, and, unless someone was playing games, the professor himself chipped in to nominate Chain of Hope, "an amazing organisation and an inspiration to work with".

Other health nominations were Alaric Smith, consultant ophthalmologist at Hereford County Hospital, who, wrote Daveena Hooson, is "so very dedicated and professional. He is hard-working – and a decent human being too!"

There were nominations, too, for Sister Frances Dominica, founder of the Helen House Children's Hospice, in Oxford, and for "nurses who work with children". "Christine" wrote: "They'll never be wealthy, but make a huge difference to the quality of life of the children in their care... and their families."

In the community field, Jane Wilson nominated Donna Jones, who has worked for Sheffield Youth Service and Sheffield Futures for 27 years, 15 of them, she wrote, on the Manor/Woodthorpe estate in the city. She went on: "The Manor was once called 'the worst estate in Britain', which had a detrimental effect on the psyche of the residents. In 1997 she established the Manor Young People's Health and Training Project, a charity that prioritised working with marginalised young people... Over the past 11 years Donna has raised nearly £800,000 to keep it running."

David Gooch nominated Pamela Coughlan: "a tetraplegic who fought the NHS for the right to be funded for her long-term care and whose victory in the Court of Appeal in 1999 single-handedly changed the way funding was considered."

Anne Grice nominated David Robinson, founder of We Are What We Do, a community action programme that believes in the maxim "small actions x lots of people = big change".

Peggy Tuck suggested Jenny Wood, who "works for a charity giving legal advice to people who are in poverty and debt as well as helping people to appeal against decisions to refuse disability benefits. She works far in excess of the hours she is paid."

For community in the widest sense, "Charlotte" named Shami Chakrabarti. It's good to know someone so capable is heading Liberty and looking out for us and our civil liberties."

And Maurice Logan-Salton nominated perhaps Britain's least-known surviving First World War veteran, Gladys Powers. He wrote to say: "She celebrates her 109th birthday on 10 May. A resident at a care home in Abbotsford, British Columbia, she emigrated to Canada, as a war bride, in 1920... In 1915, aged 15, she lied about her age and joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. She later transferred to the Women's Royal Air Force, becoming a barracks waitress. According to the 'Abbotsford Times' last month, Gladys still dances, but with a walker now – for stability."

Surprisingly, there were no nominations in the environment field, but plenty in our amorphous category of "Pleasure", meaning those in media and culture who make us feel better. They included, from Tunde Banjoko (see below) the actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah: "As well as writing excellent plays that bring issues that affect Britain's black community to a wider audience, Kwame is a passionate advocate for the arts. He is a shining example of what British blacks can be, successful, a pioneer, yet very aware of where he came from and committed to giving back."

Norman Cocup named Alan Pope, musical director of Camborne Youth Band: "Under Alan's inspiring leadership the band have just won the National Championship for the fifth year. These are all young people from a run-down town in Cornwall who give up their time to learn an instrument. But for Alan's leadership who knows what they would find to fill the hours?"

Philippa Worth nominated Ed McLachlan, cartoonist for 'Private Eye', 'The Spectator' and others: "His surreal take on human nature and life and all their absurdities may sometimes appear quite savage at first; but the underlying humanity and care for all forms of life then become clear."

There were also nominations for Sir David Attenborough from Tony Sullivan; satirical website Daily Mash "for bringing tears of laughter to the eyes of thousands of people every morning" ("Debby"); Stewart Parsons, music librarian at Lancaster Central Library, "for the fantastic gigs he puts on in the library and for getting young people back into libraries" (Ian McCulloch); George Galloway "for standing up for the oppressed. He also entertains and educates millions with his radio show" ("Steve"); Alexander McCall Smith, author of "The No1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (E H Ward); and, from "Mousekiro", "TV presenter and writer Danny Wallace, the creator of a cult – sorry, collective – dedicated to Random Acts of Kindness. His 'Karma Army' perform kind acts on Fridays just for their own thrill."

"Lucy" named: "Hilary Bradt, for 34 years of responsible and eco-friendly travel guides, going to places no one's even heard of, and, with Kate Humble, promoting the 'Stuff Your Rucksack' campaign to help communities in far-flung countries."

Only one innovator popped up, from "Charlotte": "Sophi Tranchell, MD of Divine Chocolate Ltd, has delivered the happiest solution to our collective sweet tooth – delicious chocolate which proves there is a fairer way of trading with the developing world. Sophi has made the unique relationship between Divine and Kuapa Kokoo, the Ghanaian co-operative that owns 45 per cent of the company, work better than anyone could have anticipated."

In the charity field, we had, from Professor Prabhu Guptara: "Dr Patrick Dixon, one of the world's top business gurus. However, he spends an enormous amount of time and money on a charity that he founded in 1988, Acet (Aids Care Education and Training), which now works in more than 50 other countries."

Sue Hale named Bryn Parry, "who founded Help for Heroes, a charity dedicated to raising money to assist those who have been injured while serving in the armed forces. Through Bryn's hard work and the support of the armed forces and general public, £4.5m has been raised. The ultimate aim is to build a new swimming pool at the joint forces rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Surrey."

Joel Bradley named Martin Newman MBE, co-founder of Katie's Ski Tracks: "It annually takes 20 sick, disabled and terminally ill children on the (sometimes literally) 'holiday of a lifetime' – a 10-day skiing holiday in Italy. He devotes all his time to fundraising and organising what is a mammoth task. More than 300 children have travelled and the benefits are life-long and life-changing. He is the most selfless person I know."

Eugene Blavo wrote: "I nominate the CEO of the charity I work for, Tunde Banjoko of LEAP. Starting from a room in Harlesden, London, 15 years ago, he has built an organisation that has helped 4,000 unemployed people, many from ethnic minorities, into employment. Tunde has also built a community centre, which without any funding, puts on a youth club, drama and dance classes, all free of charge, for local young people."

And Jenny Wood nominated Doug Barnett: "He helped set up the Grain of Wheat charity, which works with deprived children from the Middle East."

Mental well-being supplied us with nominations for "Trevor Sorbie for helping with a project to teach hairdressers how to cut and style wigs for people who have lost their hair during chemotherapy" ("Bev"); for "Emily Cleaver and Nadia Finer who founded More to Life Than Shoes – which helps inspire, encourage and support women to achieve their dreams. Really positive and uplifting" ("RH"); for Ian McEwan, from "Kerry":"As the principal educational psychologist for Dumfries and Galloway he has fought for countless families to get what their children need, instead of what the bureaucrats are willing to give. His eloquence, intelligence, humour and empathy have helped him to work for the good of all the children he comes into contact with – my twin included."

And, from Lucy Zinkiewicz, for "Psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire. His research on a huge variety of 'quirky' topics, such as luck, giving, lying, belief in magic, astrology, dating ads and ghostly experiences, is always innovative and often extremely useful. He has inspired and interested thousands of students."

Entertainment gave us nominations for Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson, Bruce Forsyth, the very recently late Humphrey Lyttelton, and this one from Paul Bourke: "Yesterday, I read an article about an Aussie hedge-fund star trader, multi-millionaire, who'd worked 20 hours a day for 10 years, had houses in Sydney, London etc. Now I am pleased for him... but as I was watching Grant-Lee Phillips on stage last night, he was so happy and into his music, I thought to myself, 'I bet Grant-Lee's not a rich guy, maybe he owns a house, but is there any doubt as to who is richer?'"

And there were some very personal nominations, for "our adopted Down's syndrome son, John-Paul Gower (23), who is unfailingly happy and cheerful" from Rose-Mary Gower; from D Quinn for his mum "for putting up with years of my bad health, making sure I had a roof over my head and something to eat"; and this from Celia Bright: "My son lives on £60 a week for helping out treecutters, and he refuses to sign on. He lives in a caravan and is always jolly."

Not everyone who wrote had nominations or praise; one or two took a more gloomy view. "Robbo", for instance: "Nice idea, but it's a bit facile isn't it? A billionaire probably represents people's true interests and ethics more than some of the people you mention who actually do some good – they're the odd ones out."

Thanks to all who wrote in. Thanks to those who nominated us for coming up with the idea (modesty forbids our reproducing their perceptive comments). And thanks to the wit who posted the following: "You're such a bunch of losers – Lakshmi Mittal."

We assume it was a joke, but it'd be nice to think that the man at the top of the Rich List had been needled into responding, albeit with a certain lack of grace.

Finally, the editor's decision on all this: after readers voted with their pens, keyboards and phone calls, the IoS Happy List will now be an annual fixture.

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