The media usually seek out some of these ordinary people, and there were a couple of them on BBC Breakfast yesterday who received awards for working within their communities, and they were absolutely delighted. My mother-in-law was awarded an MBE a few years back for the years -no, decades- of work she had done within the charity sector in her home town, and she is still tickled pink whenever any of her family mention it.
I suspect that those who belittle the awards system are usually those who have never done anything, or are never likely to, that would ever see them nominated for one. Except for those who turn awards down and rant about them being an imperialist throwback, which is a kick in the teeth to those who nominated them.
I don't expect I'll ever be in the position to be nominated, but if I was I'd be over the moon.