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 is available in our resources section, when the nomination window is open.

If you have any questions or require any further information about the awards, please contact Tammy Mitchell – [email protected].

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 2024 awards events at our galleries.

What do the awards mean to recipients?

Lydia

“When I first joined cadets I was very nervous I couldn’t really speak to people without being utterly terrified.

“As I kept attending I made many friends that mean so much to me and my confidence grew. I was able to show my sense of humour and feel comfortable speaking to new people.”

Leading Cadet Lydia Moynihan of Hull Sea Cadets and HM Lord-Lieutenant Cadet of the East Riding of Yorkshire 2024.

Abdulla

“The cadets has given me a great sense of achievement, confidence and pride.

“I’ve learnt so much over the years, such as leadership, teamwork and first aid and I’ve also made loads of new friends.”

Cadet Company Sergeant Major Abdulla Abdulwahed of Firvale School Combined Cadet Force and HM Lord-Lieutenant Cadet of South Yorkshire 2024.

Kiyan

“I’ve always had a strong liking for technology and that was amplified through the different cyber courses that the air cadets offer.

“My favourite was the Gold Cyber Course, where I spent a week at RAF Cosford completing the cyber security modules of the Cyberspace Specialist Training. This has inspired me to do my university degree in Computer Science with Cybersecurity.”

Cadet Warrant Officer Kiyan Eiles , Central and East Yorkshire Wing Air Cadets and HM Lord-Lieutenant Cadet of North Yorkshire 2024.

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 2025 dates.