Make a Nomination for the Queen’s Award for the Voluntary Service (we can help you do it!)

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was created in 2002, for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and each year since then volunteers across the country have been recognised and celebrated for their invaluable contributions to their local communities.

It seems fitting that the 20th anniversary of these awards, which are the organisational equivalent of an MBE, coinciding of course with the Queen’s own Platinum Jubilee, should come after a couple of years that have seen the voluntary sector, and volunteers, needed like never before.

In the recent past, recipients of the Queen’s Award in Lancaster have included Halton Community Association, Beyond Radio, Lancashire Youth Challenge, and The Olive Branch, and this year we hope that Lancaster communities will be represented even more than ever.

This is where you come in. Which groups in Lancaster do you feel are worthy of recognition? Which organisations would you like to see rewarded for the support that they have provided over the last year? Eligibility for nomination is quite straightforward, and almost anyone can nominate a group, provided that you are not involved in running the group itself.

Lancaster District CVS, along with colleagues at Lancaster City Council, will be facilitating various events in the coming months to help increase the number of nominations from Lancaster District this year. Nominations are made a year in advance, so the nomination window for the 2023 Awards is now open, with the closing date on 15th September this year.

The nomination process is really simple. Check that the group is eligible; set up a nominator account at the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service website; get two letters of support from two additional people; complete the form and submit. We can support you in every step of this process.

So if you know of a group that is truly outstanding and making a big difference to their local community, a group where volunteers rather than paid staff are in the driving seat, a group that has the highest standards in everything that they do, let us know. We can support you in making a nomination to the Awards for 2023.