Hounslow street cleaners and volunteers at a Paddington food bank were among the Christmas Day workers thanked for 'keeping the beating heart of Christmas alive' with surprise packages.

An estimated 172,000 workers and many more volunteers will be putting in a shift tomorrow, while most of us put our feet up.

Members of the emergency services, midwives and airport staff will be among those making up the Christmas Day workforce, including more than 74,000 NHS and social workers, according to figures from the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Visa recognised a handful of that dedicated bunch, including Hounslow street cleaners, baggage handlers at Southend Airport, nurses at Whittington Hospital and food bank volunteers in Paddington by surprising them with gifts.

You can see how they reacted in this video.

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Brenda Meadows was among the volunteers honoured by Visa. The 82-year-old has volunteered for 65 years and worked every Christmas at North Paddington Food Bank for the past 30 years.

She said: "I don’t have any family left in the UK so the community is my family now. To me it’s important to give because you are making other people happy."

To reward Brenda for a lifetime of giving, Visa contributed to the food bank as well as giving her holiday vouchers which will allow her to visit her family in Australia for the first time in 15 years.