Celebrating 20 Years of Our Local Volunteer Heroes

2025 marks the 20^th anniversary of the Lancaster Volunteer Achievement Awards, a now bi-annual event celebrating volunteers and volunteering across the district.

Back in 2005 the very fist event saw hundreds of local volunteers nominated to be recognised for the amazing work that they do in our communities, with one person from all of the almost 400 people out forward walking away with the coveted ‘Volunteer of the Year’ title, which that year went to a volunteer at Marsh Community Centre!

Since then the Awards have evolved and we now have multiple categories recognizing various aspects of volunteering, from fundraising to trusteeship. This year we are pleased to introduce two new categories of Environment Hero and Wellbeing Champion, to sit alongside our long-established categories of Volunteer of the Year, Young Volunteer of the Year, Trustee of the Year, Fundraiser of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Roger Sherlock Memorial Community Inspiration of the Year Award.

So now it’s over to you! Do you know a volunteer who deserves recognition? Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond to make a difference in their community? We would love for you to nominate them for one or more of our awards!

You can find everything that you need over on our website. You don’t have to be involved with an organisation to nominate – perhaps you have a family member, or a friend, or a neighbour who volunteers. Perhaps you receive support yourself from a volunteer that you would like to thank for the help that they have given to you.

And a person doesn’t have to be volunteering with an organisation to be nominated! They might simply be someone who gives their time locally to do good things. If you know someone who is making a difference, you can nominate them.

If you know someone that you would like to recognise, but you don’t want to nominate them for a specific award category, you can just ask for them to receive a Certificate of Recognition, which is our way of saying thank you for all that they do. So get on over to our website and complete the simple online form.

If you would like more information or to chat through anything before you complete the form, you can contact the Volunteer Centre manager Mark by email at [email protected] or on the phone on 01524 555900.