FANY(PRVC) awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service
We are delighted that the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry is one of the 2021 winners of the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The award recognises outstanding community work among local volunteer groups across the UK.
During the past year, members of the Corps’ have contributed over 1,000 days in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their volunteers have taken time out from their jobs and family commitments to support organisations including the National Emergencies Trust, Nightingale Hospital London, the Royal London Hospital, City of London Police, and three London Coroners.
The Commanding Officer of the Corps, Commandant Philippa Lorimer MBE, commented: "We are honoured to receive this award in recognition of our past and present volunteers’ dedication. The Corps does extraordinary work in times of crisis and we have been heavily involved in London's pandemic response. It is wonderful that the Corps’ work has been acknowledged with such a prestigious accolade.”
The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps), founded in 1907 (https://www.fany.org.uk), is an all-female voluntary organisation which deploys multi-faceted rapid response teams to support civil and military authorities in times of crisis. They are a vibrant organisation, with a diverse membership, and are on call 24/7, 365 days a year to be of service to those who need them. Although for the last 100 years they have moved away from nursing, compassion is central to what they do.
They are the world's longest established uniformed 'military' voluntary organisation for women, and the only all-women unit left in the UK. The Corps is on the Army list, but not part of the Army. They use the Army rank structure, and are an officer Corps, but they neither train at Sandhurst nor hold the Queen's commission. All members of the Corps are volunteers who do not get paid for their work, in fact, they have to pay an annual subscription to be Corps members (as well as maintaining a specified level of training).
The Company is extremely proud of the affiliation between our two organisations and we send the Corps our warmest congratulations on a very well deserved award.