Awards & Ceremonies
Honours Awards
Anybody in the UK can make a recommendation for a British national to receive an honour as long as they are not a family member. The aim is to ensure that the large numbers of people who are not in the public eye who give valuable service are recognised. They could be charity volunteers, members of the emergency services or Armed Forces, industrial pioneers or specialists in various professions.
Honours are awarded on the advice of the Cabinet Office and for this reason, honours nominations are handled not by Buckingham Palace but by the Honours and Appointments Secretariat, which is part of the Cabinet Office.
In order to nominate someone, you should obtain a copy of the nominations form and read the guidance notes. These can be downloaded and printed from https://www.nominate-uk-honour.service.gov.uk/. You can only nominate individuals for honours. You can nominate a volunteer group for the King’s Award for Voluntary Service.
If you nominate someone for an honour, the honours committee will review your nomination. You will get an acknowledgment – but you may not hear anything else for 12 to 18 months. All nominees will be checked by various government departments to make sure they are suitable for an honour.
If you do submit an Honours nomination for a person resident in Northamptonshire, it would be most helpful if you could let the Lord-Lieutenant know please.
British Empire Medals (BEM)
British Empire Medals are awarded to local volunteers who make a real difference to their communities. Awards are announced in either the New Year or Birthday Honours lists and recipients of BEMs will receive their medals from the Lord-Lieutenant in a ceremony at County Hall, Northampton. BEMs will also receive an invitation to a Royal Garden Party (if they have not attended one previously).
People can be nominated for BEMS using the form on the website: https://www.gov.uk/honours/overview. or click here
Royal Garden Parties
Each year the Lord-Lieutenant is asked by the Lord Chamberlain to submit a list of names of those residing in his County whom he would recommend for invitation to His Majesty’s Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace. It is The King’s wish that those invited should be drawn from as wide a range as possible and from those who have not previously attended one of His Majesty’s Garden Parties. Each Lord-Lieutenant is given a quota by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office and Deputy Lieutenants are invited to submit names to the Lord-Lieutenant for consideration for inclusion in this quota.
King’s Awards for Enterprise
The King’s Awards for Enterprise (KAE) are for outstanding achievement by UK businesses in the categories of:
innovation
international trade
sustainability
promoting opportunity through social mobility
young founder
The award is is self-nominating award with an organisation completing its own forms and submitting them for appraisal. If successful, a representative of the organisation will be invited to a Royal reception at Buckingham Palace, hosted by His Majesty The King and the organisation will be presented its award (a crystal bowl) by the Lord-Lieutenant, usually at their place of business in the County.
The awards are valid for 5 years and after this time, organisations can re-apply.
Recent recipients of a KAE within Northamptonshire are:
Courteenhall Farm: 2026 for Sustainability
Blue Skies: 2026 for Sustainability
Enovation Consulting Ltd: 2026 for Sustainability
Stephenson’s Online Ltd: 2025 for International Trade
Ziggurat XYZ Ltd: 2025 for International Trade
Enovation Consulting Ltd: 2025 for International Trade
Rockleigh Ltd: 2024 for Promoting Opportunity
Matrix Corp PVT Ltd: 2024 for International Trade
Pallite Group: 2023 for Innovation
Brian James Trailers Ltd: 2023 for International Trade
Viridian International Ltd: 2023 for International Trade
Fulkrum Technical Resources Ltd: 2023 for International Trade
Bambino Mio Ltd: 2022 for Sustainable Development
Diamond Hard Surfaces Ltd: 2022 for International Trade
Farrington Oils Ltd: 2021 for Sustainable Development
Blue Skies: 2015 and 2020 for Sustainable Development
Goodwill Solutions CIC : 2020 for Promoting Opportunity
Bambino Mio Ltd: 2020 for International Trade
James & James Fulfilment Ltd: 2020 for International Trade
Brian James Trailers: 2018 for International Trade
Metrosol: 2017 for Innovation
Cheaney Shoes: 2016 for International Trade
Red Arch Manufacturing: 2016 for International Trade
Further details can be found at: www.gov.uk or click here.
King’s Awards for Voluntary Services (KAVS)
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK.
Any group of 2 or more people doing volunteering work can be nominated for the award. The majority of the group must be volunteers, and more than half the volunteers must have the right to live in the UK.
To be nominated they should do work that:
provides a service and meets a need for people living in the local community
is supported, recognised and respected by the local community and the people who benefit from it
is run locally.
Volunteer groups should have been running for 3 years or more to be nominated.
Recent Recipients of a KAVS Award within Northamptonshire are:-
Northampton Guardians : 2025
Off The Streets NN CIC : 2025
Volunteer Action : 2025
Northamptonshire Search and Rescue : 2024
Rush2TheDen : 2024
St Andrew’s – Voluntary Services : 2024
The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation : 2023
The Wellingborough District Hindu Association (WDHA): 2023
Sulgrave Village Shop: 2022
The Indian Hindu Welfare Organisation (IHWO): 2021
Sikh Community Centre and Youth Club: 2020
Fynnius Fogg: 2019
The Lowdown: 2019
DACT (Daventry Area Community Transport): 2017
CAFE (Creative Activities for the Elderly): 2016
The deadline for KAVS nominations is December 1st, with the nomination period for the 2026 awards running from September 1, 2025, to December 1, 2025. The KAVS award process has annual cycles where nominations open in September and close on December 1st of that year. Applications need to be made on line and further details can be found at www.gov.uk. or click here.
The Lord-Lieutenant is then requested to submit his support for a nomination. The deadline for submission is usually end of January with the announcement of successful applications made in June.
The Lord-Lieutenant will present the voluntary organisation with their award at a ceremony arranged by the organisation. This should not be arranged until at least two months after the announcement is made to enable the award to be received by the Lieutenancy office.
Citizenship Ceremonies
You will be invited to book a place at a citizenship ceremony if your application to become a British Citizen is successful and you are over 18 years old. Citizenship ceremonies are organised by the local council and are usually carried out in groups at the Council Chamber in Northampton.
Rose of Northamptonshire Awards
The award is available for anyone in the County to nominate someone or a group who have gone the extra mile in helping the Northamptonshire community over the last 12 months. Initially it was conceived for those who have done something fantastic during the Covid crisis. However, it is becoming apparent that there are other equally notable efforts that deserve recognition, such as those who helped in the floods just before Christmas.
Northamptonshire Community Foundation – Rose of Northamptonshire Awards nomination form (ncf.uk.com)
King’s Scout Award
The King’s Scout Award is the top achievement for Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members and comprises of a variety of activities to complete. It’s closely linked to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award, so it’s worth considering working on the two awards together. To gain the award, you must complete a number of tasks before your 25th birthday.
