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Unsung Heroines Award 2025 

This Award seeks to recognise those women who selflessly help others.  This could be through activities in addition to their role responsibilities or going above and beyond what is expected of them in their role. It should be on an enduring basis rather than a single act. They are 'unsung' as their intent is to selflessly help others rather than seek recognition for themselves.

Who can be entered?

This Award is open to individual women only. Please note Winners of any category are excluded from nominations for any Women in Defence UK Awards for 2 years.

What will the judges be looking for?

The judges are looking for nominations for women that have gone above and beyond either in, or in addition to, their role. The category focuses on altruistic acts to help others in the defence and security sector, such as a cancer sufferer setting up a support network, someone creating a perinatal community or a receptionist going out of her way to make lives easier for the people she comes across. All of these examples highlight valuable ways that people make other’s lives better over a period of time, and the unsung heroines award seeks to recognise that.

See also

The Unsung Heroines Award shares similarities with the Outstanding Contribution Award. The key difference is that the Unsung Heroines Award recognises those whose work is altruistic and improves the morale of people working in defence of the UK, whereas the Outstanding Contribution Award seeks to recognise excellence in a professional field.

Finalists from earlier years 

Last year’s Finalists were from BAE Systems, Frazer-Nash Consultancy and Amentum. The Winner was recognised for her continued advocacy for mental health awareness in UK defence. The other Finalists were nominated for: their continued commitment to improve employee experience through their dedication to inclusion and diversity initiatives; and their work in events management resulting in the successful planning and seamless execution of Amentum’s flawless presentations and displays.

How do I nominate?

Nominating someone is simple, just go to the Women in Defence UK 2025 Awards Nominations Proforma, but we advise that you read this first! 

To nominate, follow these easy steps: 

  1. Provide the contact details of the woman you are nominating, please note the need to confirm that you have her agreement to share her details. 
  2. Tell us briefly why you think she deserves to be nominated (the citation part of the nomination form). 
  3. Provide your own contact details. 

The citation part of the nomination form is broken into three elements:

  1. An overview of why you are nominating this woman (maximum of 200 words). 
  2. An explanation of how she has demonstrated the criteria for this Award category (maximum of 200 words). 
  3. Examples of the results she has achieved as supporting evidence (maximum of 200 words). 

Please note

The citation must reflect a true and accurate account of the attributes, achievements and impact of the actions of the individual. Women in Defence UK requires all nominators to verify that the citations are factually correct.

AI can be used to create all or part of the citation. If used, it is the nominator’s personal responsibility to ensure that all company or organisational security, privacy and information management protocols have been followed. We ask for transparency if any AI tool has been used – you will see a question as part of the nomination procedure.

You should only include information that is up to the classification of ‘Official’. Information that is ‘Official Sensitive’ or higher must not be included.

A nomination using essentially the same narrative or evidence should not be entered in more than one Award by a single nominator. A nominee may be entered more than once in one or more categories by different nominators, providing the narrative in the citation does not duplicate, or near word for word resemble, the citations of other nominators. 

Entries will not be accepted from the partner, spouse or other close family member of a nominee.

There is a word limit of 200 words per section. Even if the form allows you to enter more, the citation sent for judging will be shortened if it exceeds this limit, which could mean that it ends mid-sentence.

Hints and tips

The judges refer to the category criteria when judging submissions. They look to see how the activity/behaviour/impact meets the criteria for each category. So put yourself in the judges’ shoes. They read lots of citations so capture their attention early, be concise and provide context. It may be obvious to you why an achievement is so worthy of recognition, but our judges may not have the same background or experience so please explain the significance. 

Providing context to the citation (i.e. sphere of work, day to day tasks, key challenges, etc.), and tangible evidence of the outcome or effect that this had on others will strengthen the nomination hugely. Our judges may not be familiar with all parts of the defence enterprise so avoid, or at the very least explain, acronyms. 

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