Volunteer of the Year Awards 2024

The Volunteer of the Year Awards recognise and reward outstanding volunteers who contribute a huge amount of their time to the organisation. These awards stand apart from the Leadership Awards, so as not to confuse leadership and volunteerism. The 2024 Awards will be judged on the period from August 2023 to July 2024 inclusive. There will be one Volunteer of the Year Award given to one member from each Macra region: Leinster Volunteer of the Year, Munster Volunteer of the Year and North West Volunteer of the Year.

Key Dates for Volunteer of the Year Awards 2024

Launch and Application Opening Date: May 2024

Application Closing Date: Friday 5th July 2024

Shortlisting and Notify Nominees: July 2024

Voting: August/September 2024

Awards Ceremony: October/November 2024, date tbc

Stage 1:  Nomination Stage

Candidates for the Volunteer of the Year Awards can only be nominated by another Macra member. The nomination form will list three attributes that, through our consultation, we consider to be important for the volunteers within the organisation to have.

• Involvement
• Positive Attitude
• Club/County/Organisational Input

The nominator must give examples of times the nominee demonstrated these three attributes within the Macra community from the period of August 2023 to July 2024.

• Involvement: Examples of how this member was involved at club, county, or national level.
• Positive Attribute: Examples of positive qualities this member holds.
• Club/County/Organisational Input: Examples of how this member has benefited the club/county/national organisation. 

The form will include both options to submit your answers as a typed message or voice recording in the interest of accessibility. The onus is entirely on the nominator to show that their chosen nominee is worthy of the award. The form will be worth 40% of the overall mark.

Stage 2:  Shortlisting Stage

Nominees will be shortlisted to no more than eight per region. This process will be carried out by the TDOs and VPs. No TDO or VP will be responsible for nominees from their own counties or region. A TDO may be asked to verify that the information on the nomination form is truthful. Shortlisting will not have a mark weighting; it will simply be the mechanism to move from one stage to the next. At this stage all nominees will be notified that they have been shortlisted for the awards. All unsuccessful nominees will also be notified, and all nominators will be notified.

Stage 3:  Zoom Interview

Once nominees have been shortlisted, the person who nominated them will be invited to a zoom call with the judges. This call will be a more informal conversation to discuss the elements of the nomination form in more detail. This stage of the process will also be worth 40% of the overall mark. The judges will be external from the national organisation, for example sponsor representative. The top three volunteers from each region will go through to the next stage. All successful and unsuccessful nominees will be notified on the same day. All nominators will also be notified on the same day.

Stage 4:  Voting

Macra members will have the opportunity to vote for the Volunteer of the Year Winners. The member vote will be worth 20% of the overall result. This not only allows member voices to be heard but also provides an opportunity to promote and recognise the best of Macra’s volunteers. Following the closing date of the voting stage, all winners will be notified, and all unsuccessful nominees and nominators will be notified on the same day.

Stage 5:  Awards Ceremony

There will be one overall winner from each of the three Macra regions. Each regional winner will be invited to attend The National Leadership & Volunteer Awards Ceremony.

Marking Scheme

*This is the only marking scheme breakdown that members will receive for the volunteer of the year awards.

Prizes

• Each member nominated will receive a thank you card from Macra.
• The three regional winners will receive a trophy and cash prize of €300 each.

Nomination Form - Link Here >>