RCVS opens award nominations for the RCVS Honours & Awards Evening 2022

The nominations for the RCVS Honours & Awards 2022 were formally opened at last week’s virtual Honours & Awards Evening 2021, held on 23 September. Throughout the evening, a number of awards were presented to members of the veterinary professions and wider community, to acknowledge and celebrate their remarkable achievements.

The evening was hosted by Dr Mandisa Greene, RCVS Senior Vice-President, Lizzie Lockett, RCVS Chief Executive, Amanda Boag, RCVS Knowledge’s Chair of Trustees and Matthew Rendle, Chair of VN Council, who between them, introduced all the award winners and presented honours across 10 different categories.

This year, the ceremony’s keynote speech was given by Dr Emily Collins-Wingate, a recently qualified vet who graduated during the height of the pandemic. As part of her talk, Emily openly spoke about what it was really like to train and qualify as a vet during a global pandemic and what the wider veterinary community can learn about resilience and determination from the class of 2020.

During the ceremony, Mandisa (pictured) commented: “It has been a true honour for me to present our awards to such fantastic folk tonight, and to be able to recognise and celebrate the contributions and inspiring achievements they each have made to animal health and welfare, to the veterinary professions and, indeed, to human health, both in the UK and around the world.”

Mandisa also announced that the nominations for next year’s awards were now open. Everyone from the veterinary community is encouraged to nominate individuals who they think have gone above-and-beyond the call of duty in the fields of veterinary medicine or science. The award categories that someone can be nominated for are:

• The Queen’s Medal – an award for a veterinary surgeon with a lifetime of outstanding contributions to the profession.
• The Veterinary Nursing Golden Jubilee Award - awarded to a veterinary nurse who has had a sustained and distinguished career, who can demonstrate a leadership role within the profession and who can act as an ambassador for the value of veterinary nurses and their work.
• The RCVS International Award - awarded to veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses or laypeople who have made an outstanding contribution on issues that are in line with the RCVS mission.
• The RCVS Impact Award - awarded to veterinary surgeons or veterinary nurses who have recently, or are currently, undertaking a project, initiative or similar that has a significant impact on the profession at large, animal health or welfare, or public health.
• The RCVS Inspiration Award - awarded to veterinary surgeons or veterinary nurses at any stage of their career who have demonstrated the ability to inspire and enthuse others consistently throughout.
• Honorary Associateship - awarded to laypeople (i.e. those who are neither MRCVS nor RVNs) who have made a special contribution to the veterinary sphere and could include, for example, scientists, lecturers, journalists, charity-workers, farriers, farmers and those involved in the commercial field.
• The RCVS Compassion Award - awarded to a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse at any stage of their career who has demonstrated compassion towards fellow professionals and/or members of the animal-owning public.
• The RCVS Student Community Award – awarded to a veterinary or veterinary nursing student who has made a real effort to support their fellow students and the wider veterinary/veterinary nursing school community.

The closing date for the RCVS nominations for these categories is Friday, 7 January 2022. For more information about RCVS Honours & Awards and to find out more about each of the awards and their nomination criteria, please visit www.rcvs.org.uk/awards.  

The closing date to nominate teams or individuals for the RCVS Knowledge Awards 2022: Quality Improvement Champions nominations is 18 October 2021, and the deadline for teams/individuals to apply themselves is 4 December 2021.

Anyone who missed the live ceremony can watch the recording of the event on the Honours & Awards 2021 dedicated webpage. and all the videos of the award winners are available to watch via the College’s social media channels.