Introduction

Volunteers seldom seek the limelight for themselves, yet what they do promotes and contributes significantly to the wellbeing of others and worthwhile causes that might otherwise be overlooked, or worse still, decline. Somerset is no exception in having a significant number of voluntary organisations that serve our community in a myriad of outstanding ways.

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service was set up to recognise such groups.

It is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK and was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of The Queen’s coronation. It is the MBE for volunteer groups.

The announcement of awards is made in June each year.

Any group doing volunteer work that provides a social, economic or environmental service to the local community can be nominated for the award. Initial nominations are processed by the Lieutenancy Office, whose details are on this website and involve a panel of Deputy Lieutenants who prepare citations for the Lord Lieutenant to forward to the Honours and Awards Committee in London. Each group is assessed on their own merits on the benefit it brings to the local community and its standing within that community.

Nominations open on 1 April each year and need to be submitted by September of the year before the award for example, September 2023 for a 2024 award.

How to nominate a group

Find full guidance and details on how to nominate on The King’s Award for Voluntary Service website

The Award

The Lord Lieutenant, as His Majesty’s representative, presents each group with a:

• certificate signed by The King and,
• a commemorative crystal at a local ceremony.

Significantly, award recipients are entitled to use The King’s Award emblem on their website, stationery and other printed material.

Each successful group is also allocated two places at the annual Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in London or the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh.

Previous Somerset Recipients