Top Scot Olivia tells of her delight at 'vote of confidence' from the Queen

Other Scots rewarded by the Queen in her Birthday Honour's list include David Coulthard, below, the racing driver and Gordon Baxter, right, the founder of the Scottish soup company.

Yesterday Ms Giles, 44, described her inclusion in the list as a "real vote of confidence".

Since recovering from the illness that almost claimed her life, she has dedicated herself to 500 Miles, a charity, inspired by a Proclaimers' lyric that makes artificial limbs for Malawi and Zambia.

She said: "I work on my own, more or less, so you can sometimes wonder if what you're doing is worthwhile and making a difference."

Ms Giles, who lives with husband Richard Garrett, worked as a solicitor in a high-profile law firm in the capital when she became ill with what was later diagnosed as meningococcal septicaemia.

After undergoing the painful process of having prosthetic limbs fitted and learning to walk again, she embarked on her charitable work.

Ms Giles said: "In the UK and Scotland we're really well looked after by the NHS so I looked for where the greatest need was."

A clinic set up by the trust now manufactures 45 prosthetic devices each month, she said.

On the OBE honour, Ms Giles said: "I'm really delighted with it. It still seems a bit unreal though. But it's really nice and I'm looking forward to telling my mum."

Coulthard, the former Formula 1 ace, who won 13 Grand Prix races in his career and once finished second in the drivers' championship, receives an MBE for services to motor racing.

The 39-year-old, from Twynholm, in south-west Scotland, may have quit the sport but he is still involved as a pundit for the BBC.

Blair Jenkins, former head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland, becomes an OBE, as does Eileen Gallagher, 50, chief executive of Shed Productions, makers of ITV drama Footballers' Wives.

Mr Baxter, who was awarded a CBE, went into business with his father William and brother Ian and set up WA Baxter and Sons in 1946.Speaking from his home in Fochabers, Moray, Mr Baxter, 92, said he was "very gratified, proud and pleased to receive this acknowledgement".

He added: "It was awarded for business and my work with the Baxters' Foundation, which is a charity that has raised a lot of money and supported worthwhile organisations across the UK and particularly north-east Scotland."

Telling how he built the company up, he added: "

It was inspired by a visit to America in 1959 where attitudes to business were innovation, change and acceptance of change. A can-do attitude. That was where the idea was born.

"We travelled the world to sell our goods.

"Gradually, by jove, we built a whole business. By 1959 we probably had a turnover of about half a million pounds and employed 20 to 30 people – Baxters was on its way."

Today Baxters Food Group has factories across the world including in Canada, Poland, Australia and Colchester in England, and employs a total of 1,300 people.

The company headquarters are in Fochabers.

Among the other recipients of awards was George Black, left, chief executive of Glasgow City Council, Scotland's largest local authority, receives a CBE for services to local government.

The same honour goes to William Roe, who chairs Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The director of the Edinburgh International Science festival, Dr Simon Gage, gets an OBE for services to science communication.

Tayside Fire and Rescue chief officer Stephen Hunter picks up the same honour.

Several "local heroes" are also on the list. Angela Bruno, above, is awarded an MBE for her work with the White Lily Fund Cancer Charity in the west of Scotland and Elizabeth Douglas gets an MBE for her work with the British Red Cross in Dumfries and Galloway.