Inspiring Volunteer Awards East Lothian

The Inspiring Volunteer Awards are all about celebrating the amazing efforts and achievements of volunteers in East Lothian. An annual celebration, it takes place during Volunteer’s Week, from the 1-7th June. There are seven award categories in total.

Apart from the Community Volunteer Award, nominations are usually made by local third or public sector workers. This would include (but is not restricted to):

• A volunteer co-ordinator or other member of staff from a local charity

• A member of staff from East Lothian Council who has worked with volunteers

• An elected member of East Lothian Council

• The Chair or an office bearer of a local community council

• The manager of a local development trust or social enterprise

• A charity trustee or board member

• An NHS worker who has worked with volunteers

• A teacher who has worked with volunteers

If you’re a member of the public and want to nominate for any category other than the ‘Community Volunteer Award’ (which has a more flexible nomination process), the best thing to do is approach one of the people from the list noted above and chat with them about the possibility of submitting a nomination jointly. If you are unsure about the nominations process please get in touch with Volunteer East Lothian to discuss further.

We recognise that volunteering can occur informally and isn’t always linked to a local charity or voluntary association. This is certainly true for a lot of the volunteering that happened during the pandemic.

If you live in East Lothian and want to nominate somebody for the Community Volunteer Award you must provide details for at least one local charity or public sector worker (from the list in the answer above) who is willing to support your nomination. We recommend that you let people know that you plan to nominate them. We will then contact the ‘referee’ separately to verify the nomination before contacting the nominee.

If you need help with making a nomination in this category, please get in touch as we can assist. events@volunteereastlothian.org.uk, or 01875 615 423

Nominations can be made by completing an online form on this website. The nomination form is open a few months before the ceremony, please sign up to our newsletter below to be notified of when it’s open.

You’ll find the deadline for nominations at the top of the form.

Completion of the nomination form is the main part of the process. For the Community Volunteer Award, nominations must include the details of one public or third sector worker who is willing to support the application.

Awards are judged using the information provided on the nomination form, so it’s important to include plenty of detail. A small team of independent judges decide who wins each category.

Once you’ve read these FAQ’s and decided that you want to make a nomination, it’s a good idea to tell the person or team you’re nominating. They’ll probably be thrilled to find out! They may also want to know more about how the awards work and what will happen if they do win their category. Awards will involve promotion via social media and other digital channels such as Volunteer East Lothian’s website, so you may want to discuss that with them too.

Remember to provide plenty of detail about what has been achieved by the nominee. The judges won’t know anything about the person or team concerned, so give as much information as possible about them and their unique contribution. Focus on the volunteer, not the group or organisation they volunteer for. The judges are interested in what makes the nominee deserve recognition, not the wider organisation.