The King’s Award for Voluntary Service

Every day, millions of people across the UK are making a difference by volunteering. To celebrate outstanding examples of this work, The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was instituted in 2002 for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and has continued to shine a light on the fantastic work of voluntary groups since that point.

Now under the auspices of His Majesty The King, The KAVS is the equivalent to an MBE and the highest award given to local voluntary groups in the UK for outstanding work done in their local communities for the benefit of others. It is an award for life. Any group carrying out voluntary work that provides a social, economic or environmental service to the local community can be nominated for the award.

Across Nottinghamshire we have many excellent organisations doing great things within the community and the Lord-Lieutenant is very keen to encourage applications and ensure that as many local organisations as possible, that have been running for three years or more, are deservedly recognised for their contribution.

There is not a set number of KAVS awarded each year so please do not hesitate to nominate any volunteer group in Nottinghamshire if you know about the work they do and believe it should be honoured in this way. Nominations for the King’s Award for Voluntary Service can be made online at the KAVS Website. Before you start the nomination process, please read the detailed guidance notes available here and, if you need help and advice in completing the nomination, support is also available from Nottinghamshire Lieutenancy. **Link to Contact Form**

If the volunteer group you nominate is eligible for the Award, the nomination will be assessed initially at County level by the Lieutenancy’s Honours Panel. As part of this process, Deputy Lieutenants will visit volunteer groups that have been nominated to make an assessment. The Honours Panel will then forward a short-list to the National Award Committee which, in turn, makes recommendations to the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office sends a recommended list of volunteer groups that should win the award to The King for his approval. Winning volunteer groups will confidentially be informed if they are going to win the award before the public announcement is made.

KAVS 2026 Timeline – 14 ½ month cycle

Nomination window 01 Sep 2025 – 01 Dec 2025 (12 weeks)
Local assessment 01 Jan 2026 – 12 Apr 2026 (14 weeks)
National assessment 21 Apr 2026 –  21 Jun 2026 (8 weeks)
Clearance 01 Jul 2026 – 15 Aug 2026 (6 weeks)
Notify awardees early Oct 2026
Announcement 14 Nov 2026