His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant Awards

What are the HM Lord-Lieutenant Awards?

HM Lord-Lieutenants are appointed by The King to represent him in each county of the United Kingdom and the honours they confer are among the highest any individual can receive.

The awards they give are to volunteers and cadets in recognition of their outstanding service and are intended to supplement honours bestowed by His Majesty The King in the New Year and Birthday Honours Lists. The Lord-Lieutenants make these awards at four ceremonies hosted by the RFCA in each of Yorkshire and the Humber’s four counties – North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Who is eligible for an award?

Serving personnel from the reserve forces, cadet force adult volunteers and regular service personnel or civilians who are employed in direct support of the reserve and cadet forces. e.g. civil and crown servants.

Young people from the cadet forces are also honoured by being appointed HM Lord-Lieutenant Cadets of their county, the highest honour a cadet can achieve. Cadets are in post for a year and support the Lord-Lieutenant at many ceremonial duties throughout the year such as Royal Visits and Remembrance Day.

Who can make a nomination?

The commanding officer from an individual’s unit can put forward a nomination. Information about making a nomination, including criteria, eligibility and the process for submission will be available in our resources section as soon as we announce the dates for the 2024 awards.

If you have any questions or require any further information about the awards, please contact yh-commsao@rfca.mod.uk.

How are recipients awarded?

The RFCA hosts the region’s four Lord-Lieutenant Awards ceremonies at a military establishment it manages in each of its county areas. Each ceremony is attended by the relevant Lord-Lieutenant and recipients are invited to attend along with their families and unit representatives.

At the ceremony, each cadet appointed as a Lord-Lieutenant Cadet for their county gives a speech outlining their experiences within the cadet movement. Below is a video of the speeches made by cadets at the North Yorkshire ceremony in 2021.

Videos of the other 2021 Lord-Lieutenant Cadet speeches which took place in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, are available on our YouTube channel where you can also view ceremonies held in 2020 which were fully online events due to Covid-19 at the time

You can see photos from our 2023 awards events at our galleries.

What do the awards mean to recipients?

Gemma

“When I first joined I was very nervous and shy but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

“The sea cadets has been extremely important to me as it has given me a chance to express who I really am. It’s a safe haven to not only me but a lot of the other cadets who can be who they want to be and has given them the confidence to be themselves.”

Cadet Sergeant Gemma Carr of Scarborough Royal Marine Cadets and HM Lord-Lieutenant Cadet of North Yorkshire 2023.

Katie

“Being in the army cadets has helped me to have the confidence to believe that I can do anything I put my mind to.

“Throughout my cadet career I have been able to see myself develop into the confident, hard working and driven young adult that I am today.”

Cadet Sergeant Katie Crompton of Yorkshire (North and West) Army Cadet Force and HM Lord-Lieutenant Cadet of West Yorkshire 2023.

Joseph

“Through the air cadets I have been able to develop many new skills such as learning to fly in a Grob Tutor aircraft and gaining a BTEC level 2 qualification in Aviation Studies.

“I feel very honoured and excited to be appointed Lord-Lieutenant Cadet and hope to set the example for the younger RAF air cadets.”

Cadet Flight Sergeant Joseph Doszczeczko, South and West Yorkshire Wing Air Cadets and HM Lord-Lieutenant Cadet of  South Yorkshire 2023.

When will the next Lord-Lieutenant Awards take place?

The ceremonies typically take place in September/October.
Please check back soon for details of the 2024 award dates.