The British Citizen Awards are returning for a second year

Anyone can be nominated for the extraordinary things they have done, and across eight different categories

British Citizen Awards (BCA)

The British Citizen Awards (BCA) are to return this summer after a hugely successful inaugural ceremony celebrated local heroes from across the country.

The first ever batch of BCA medals were handed out to 28 recipients at a ceremony at the House of Lords in January. Among those honoured were Captain Tristan Loraine, who has campaigned to improve air quality on commercial airliners, and Susan Bates, co-founder of the charity Balls to Cancer, which raises awareness of testicular cancer.

Nominations are now being encouraged in advance of the next set of awards, which will be presented at a ceremony in Westminster on July 9. Lord Dholakia who, with Baroness Cox, has given the BCA key parliamentary support, will host the event. Actress Brooke Kinsella, widely praised for campaigning against knife crime following the murder of her brother Ben, will co-present the ceremony and said she was “proud” to be getting more involved.

“The British Citizen Awards are a way to honour ordinary people who do extraordinary things,” she said. “If you know a person deserving of this award, please nominate them now.”

Ms Kinsella will be joined by TV personality Michael Underwood, who fronted the first awards ceremony. Speaking of the January event, he said: “It was quite overwhelming, seeing the incredible people we are recognising, but also the variety in what they have done for their communities. I have no doubt these awards will go from strength to strength.”

There are eight categories for which people can be nominated, covering service to community, industry, arts, education, healthcare and business, as well as international achievement and volunteering.

Nominations for the July awards can be made by visiting britishcitizenawards.co.uk. All submissions must be made before April 30. To find out more about the awards, past winners and ways to get involved, follow @CitizenAwards on Twitter.