King's Award Success
Last year, the volunteers of BRCA Kent were fortunate enough to be nominated for the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service.
We are delighted to share today that they have been successful and will be awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service – the equivalent of an MBE.
This extraordinary achievement is a brilliant recognition of all the hard work our co-founders.
Elizabeth – Lead Volunteer, and Suzannah –Macmillan Breast Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist Genetics and Family History Lead, have put into the group over the last decade to support women in Kent with faulty BRCA 1 and 2 genes.
In the next few months, representatives of BRCA Kent will be presented with the award by Lady Annabel Colgrain, Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, at a formal ceremony, followed by a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace next summer.
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate Her Late Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee and was continued following the accession of His Majesty The King. 2025 marks the third year of The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.
A special mention goes to one of our fantastic volunteers, Vickie, Gynae-Oncology Genetics & Family History Clinical Nurse Lead, who has shown incredible dedication over the last 6 years. Vickie has gone above and beyond to advise our ladies regularly, provide the latest guidelines and protocols for members, and help facilitate our Maidstone support group meetings.
We’d also like to take the opportunity to thank Aishling Burke, Anne Henderson and Janet Bates.and shine a light on all our other volunteers including Sam, Vyckie, Natalie and Jo, as well as our group advisors
We are extremely grateful to Nicky from NHS South East Genomic Medicine Service who nominated us for this prestigious award last year, along with Vyckie and Annmarie for their letters of support.
Elizabeth Leech, Co-Founder and Lead Volunteer of BRCA Kent, said:
“I am absolutely delighted and incredibly honoured to receive the KAVS Award on behalf of all our volunteers. We are passionate about supporting women with a faulty BRCA gene in our county and educating our local healthcare professionals.”
“We have worked extremely hard over the past decade to create a safe and caring community for our members and are immensely proud of what we have achieved.”
