Midlothian Volunteer Awards

You can submit only one nomination for each individual or team.  A nominator can nominate as many people/teams as they choose to, but if they nominate more than one in a category they should be aware that the nominations will be up against each other.

The exception to this is the Saltire Summit Nominations, where there can be up to a maximum of 12 winners for Midlothian each year. 

Awards are judged using the information provided on the nomination form, so it’s important to include plenty of detail. Provide some examples of the work and how it made a difference, or is likely to inspire others to volunteer.

Where there is a sponsor for a category, they appoint a small team of independent judges who decide who wins that category.

The Saltire Summit Award is judged by a group of local young volunteers who are appointed as Saltire Ambassadors.

Our Board Members judge the Volunteer of the Year category and the Midlothian Lieutenancy judge the Team of the Year.

Following last year, we made adjustments to the categories and added one new category,  so there are 6 categories open to nominations. Two categories (Volunteer of the Year and Volunteer Team of Year) will be chosen by the board members and Midlothian Lieutenancy.

The 2026 award categories you can nominate from are as follows:

• Outstanding New Volunteer
  • For volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to an organisation and/or their community in less than 18 months.

• Climate Change
  • For volunteers who have taken on an active role in their community helping to tackle climate change or being involved in sports and other physical activities.

• Health, Wellbeing, & Active Volunteering Award
  • For volunteers whose activities have had a health or care related focus, including those who have supported unpaid carers. Additionally, volunteers who have an active role within their community or an involvement in a sport or other physical activity. 

• Dedicated Service to Community
  • For volunteers who have given their time and contributed towards important services/causes/organisations within their community for a minimum of 18 months.

• Saltire Summit Awards
  • For young people aged between 12-25 who have made excellent contributions to volunteering and achieved 200+ hours towards volunteering activities in their community. 

• Uniformed Volunteer
  • For volunteers who do volunteering activities as part of a uniformed organisation such as Girlguiding, Scouts, Youth Police, and Cadets. 

Once you have decided to make a nomination, please tell the person or team concerned. They will 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.

Midlothian Community Action is highly committed to the recognition of volunteering efforts, this includes promotion via social media and other media channels such as our website and press releases throughout the year. You may want to discuss this with the nominee to ensure they are comfortable.

All communication about the event will be from Midlothian Community Action to the Nominator. It is the Nominators responsibility to share the information about the nomination and the ceremony with the individual/group they have nominated. This includes forwarding the invitation to the event and all relevant information.

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 please give as relevant information as possible about them and their unique contribution. It may be down to earth and humorous, it’s about that unique human connection. How did they make a difference?

• Stick to the word count! Please ensure you stay within the word count, this ensures every nominee has a fair chance to get their story across.

• 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.

• Please provide good quality photographs, not blurry or squint! Ensure the photos clearly show the nominee(s) and don’t send in photos with more than one person (unless you’re nominating a team). Submitted photographs will be used in our media and promotional activities throughout the year, unless you let us know you want to opt out of this.

• When nominating a team of volunteers – the judges will look for evidence of good collaborative working, support, comradery, and making a difference by combining efforts for a greater cause.

• Use our Nomination Example & Photo Guidelines document to help you.

• When nominating a volunteer leader – please focus on leadership skills. motivating people, resilience, and navigating through times of crisis. Highlight personal attributes that make the individual uniquely inspiring.

The majority of nominations are made by local third or public sector workers. This would include:

• A volunteer coordinator or other member of staff from a local charity.
• A member of staff from Midlothian Council who has worked with volunteers.
• An elected member of Midlothian 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.
• A Head Teacher or a Chair of Parents Council.
• Member of the public.

Please approach one of the people from the list noted above and chat with them about the possibility of submitting a nomination jointly.

For any questions or issues, email volunteering@mca.scot. Alternatively you can give us a call on 0131 663 9471.