IT IS most likely that Sandra McMillan is the first member of staff at Chulmleigh Community College to have been awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Sandra, who has lived at Dolton all her life, went to school in Crediton, is married to Alistair, and is manager of the Business and Enterprise Centre, based at the College.

She has been working there for 17 years, saying she has seen great changes in that time when it used to be Chulmleigh Resource and Information Centre.

She received her MBE for services to adult education and is well known at the school for her relentless pursuit of excellence - evidenced by the many awards that both the Centre and the learners have received - and now Sandra herself.

Mike Johnson, College principal, said the College and the whole of Chulmleigh were proud of Sandra and her team.

"This is well-deserved recognition for the fact that Sandra and her team engage, retain and develop the life changes of scores of local people. We're thrilled," he said.

Sandra said she was "stunned and delighted" to receive the MBE. She and Alistair have two children, a daughter who is at university in London and a son who is apprenticed to a South Molton firm of accountants. Alistair runs his own company doing television and digital installation.

Sandra loves sport "everything from F1 to football." She went to the Monaco Grand Prix for her 40th birthday and has also had a trip to Anfield to watch Liverpool. She even names equipment, such as her computer after sports people.