Regional Volunteer Awards back for 2021 - nominate now
The England Athletics Regional Volunteer Awards are back for 2021 – and now’s your chance to nominate the athletics and running volunteer heroes from your club, group or wider region! Nominations are now open for this year’s awards - the perfect opportunity to reward those volunteers who have shown so much dedication and enthusiasm in their roles and who are helping the sport to bounce back strongly from the impact of Covid-19.
As with previous years, the awards will help honour the amazing contribution of individuals in our sport as well as that of clubs and RunTogether groups.
This year’s awards have also been refreshed - with the new Unsung Hero of the Year category (formerly Volunteer of the Year) and Innovation in Athletics & Running category (formerly Athletics and Running @home - specific to last year’s Covid-19 lockdown). We have also created the Newcomer to Officiating award, recognising an official who has made a brilliant contribution within the last five years. This replaces the previous Official of the Year award, with deserving longer-serving officials able to be nominated in other categories such as Unsung Hero of the Year or Services to Athletics or Running.
Speaking about the awards, Chris Jones, England Athletics CEO, said:
"We’re delighted to open nominations for our 2021 Regional Volunteer Awards and I would encourage everyone to use the awards as a chance to honour the fantastic volunteers who have made such a positive difference to individuals, their clubs, groups or wider region. We cannot stress enough how important volunteers are for the sport, and the crucial role they play, particularly during the last 12 months as we have worked together to bring our sport back safely during the pandemic. Each award nomination is a fantastic way to show a volunteer just how grateful we are for their commitment, enthusiasm and hard-work."
Visit our Regional Volunteer Awards 2021 webpage to nominate the amazing volunteers from your region and to read a more detailed summary of each of the awards. Nominations are open now, until 23:59 on Sunday 5 September, across the following nine categories:
- Club of the Year
- Coach of the Year
- Newcomer to Officiating
- Unsung Hero of the Year
- Young Volunteer of the Year
- RunTogether Group of the Year
- Leader of the Year
- Innovation in Athletics and Running
- Services to Athletics or Running
We encourage anyone submitting a nomination to include as much detail as possible, within the word count allowed, to enable our awards selection panel to most effectively assess the nominations.
Once nominations have closed, our selection panel will review all submissions and select the regional winners and runners-up (to be announced at their regional awards night). Regional winners will then be put forward to an external panel for the chance to win one of our prestigious National Volunteer Awards.
Due to the success of last year’s virtual regional awards nights, the 2021 Regional Volunteer Awards will once again see the awards hosted online for each of the nine regions through November and early December.
We are also encouraging you to spread the word so that as many people nominate as many volunteers as possible. You can share our Regional Volunteer Awards posts on our social media channels – @EnglandAthletics on Facebook/Instagram and @englandathletic on Twitter. Club personnel can also download free promotional posters and social media imagery by visiting our MarketingHub
Show the volunteers in your region just how valued they are – nominate today!