An Award we Love: The British Citizen Award

Here at The Awards People we’ve found that The British Citizen Award (BCA) – also known as The People’s Honours – is largely unheard of.  Here’s why we love these awards!

• The awards were founded to celebrate the everyday people who shape our lives and do great things – often behind the scenes and/or away from the glare of publicity.  The BCA’s believe that people are key to making our society and communities special places to live and recognise those people through this award.
• The Honours are a benchmark against which individuals are able to measure their standing in the community; the respect with which they are held by others; and benefit from recognition for their endeavours.  The BCA stress that medallists are selected to receive the award in recognition of their contribution to society and are, therefore, not ‘winners’ as this implies a competition.  All recipients also featured on The British Citizen Award Roll of Honour.
• Each nomination is considered on its merits and if further information is required, the nominator or nominee will be contacted and invited to supply it.  The BCA Independent Assessment Panel assesses from the information contained in the submission and any other information available in the public domain.

There are eight individual categories, each having its own specific subject area, but all the BCAs are underpinned by the overarching qualities of transparency, integrity, determination and achievement.

• BCAa for Service to Arts
• BCAb for Service to Business
• BCAc for Service to Community
• BCAe for Service to Education
• BCAh for Service to Healthcare
• BCAi for Service to Industry
• BCAo for International Achievement
• BCAv for Volunteering & Charitable Giving

There are no deadlines as such for these Awards as such, however, medal presentations take place twice a year in July and January.

Please note: those recognised with a KBE, OBE or MBE are ineligible to be considered for a BCA.  Those with a BME or Queen’s Award are eligible.  Those awarded a BCA are not exempt from the Queen’s Honours system.  Non-British nationals are considered for a BCA if their contribution has positively impacted British Society, Communities or Citizens.

Next week we start writing BCA nominations for clients in the categories of Services to the Community, Volunteering & Charitable Giving and for Service to Business… and we can’t wait!

So, have we wetted your appetite?  Who do you know who should be nominated for a BCA and in which category?  Let us know and good luck!  You know where we are if you need some support. X