ABOUT THE AWARDS
For over 30 years, the Yorkshire Awards have been the preeminent awards recognising those who had an impact upon Yorkshire and its people, demonstrating their affection for, and real commitment to, the region.
Organised by The Yorkshire Society and under the Chairmanship of Sir Rodney Walker, a committee comprising representatives of the awards’ sponsors consider all nominations and collectively decide the most deserving winners on behalf of the people of Yorkshire.
Each nomination received is fully considered and the selection of Award Winners is a joint decision based on merit, irrespective of the number of nominations received.
“Recognising those who had an impact upon Yorkshire and its people, demonstrating their affection for, and real commitment to, the region”.
Sir Rodney Walker
Chairman, Awards Committee
THE CATEGORIES AND THEIR SPONSORS

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
For the person who, over their lifetime, has made an outstanding contribution to the community of Yorkshire.
COMMUNITY HERO AWARD
For the person who has made a significant contribution in helping to improve the lives of others.

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE AWARD
For outstanding efforts in business enterprise within the County.
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT AWARD
For the outstanding Yorkshire personality in the field of Art and Entertainment.

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
For outstanding achievement or contribution to Yorkshire sporting success.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
For the outstanding woman who has made the greatest individual contribution to life in the County.

MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
For the outstanding man who has made the greatest individual contribution to life in the County.
SPECIAL AWARD
For the people who have done something truly outstanding.
RICHARD WHITELEY AWARD
For the person or organisation that has given outstanding inspiration to others within the County.
YOUNG PERSON AWARD
For the person under 25 who has made a positive impact in their field and already made Yorkshire proud.
INTERNATIONAL AWARD
For the person or organisation that has represented Yorkshire with distinction on an international basis.
Sponsorship enquiries should be sent to
awards@theyorkshiresociety.org
Sponsorship enquiries should be sent to awards@theyorkshiresociety.org
WATCH
THE 31st AWARDS
Held on 6th March 2020
ROLL OF HONOUR
MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Peter Elliott MBE | 1989 |
Duncan Walker | 1990 |
Lord Merlyn Rees | 1991 |
Lord Healey of Riddlesden | 1992 |
Alan Ayckbourn | 1993 |
Sir Marcus Fox MP | 1995 |
Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird MBE | 1996 |
Alan Titchmarsh | 1997 |
Michael Parkinson | 1998 |
Kevin Keegan | 1999 |
Michael Palin CBE | 2000 |
Patrick Stewart CBE | 2001 |
Sean Bean | 2002 |
Richard Whiteley | 2003 |
Lord Kirkham | 2004 |
Alan Hinkes | 2005 |
David Jones | 2006 |
John Sentamu (Archbishop of York) | 2007 |
Sir Rodney Walker | 2008 |
Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson | 2009 |
Marco Pierre White | 2010 |
Brian Blessed | 2011 |
Lord Coe KBE | 2012 |
Harry Gration MBE | 2013 |
Gary Verity | 2014 |
Lord Hague of Richmond PC FRSL | 2015 |
Prof. Lord Patel of Bradford OBE | 2016 |
Tom Riordan | 2017 |
Ben Davis | 2018 |
Simon Armitage CBE | 2019 |
Kevin Sinfield OBE | 2021 |
Chris Mason | 2022 |
WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
HRH Duchess of Kent | 1989 |
Marti Caine | 1990 |
Jean Rook (posthumous) | 1991 |
Betty Boothroyd MP | 1992 |
Elizabeth Peacock MP | 1993 |
Jan Fletcher | 1994 |
Rita Britton | 1995 |
Liz Dawn | 1996 |
Judith Donovan | 1997 |
Jane McDonald | 1998 |
Prunella Scales | 1999 |
Lesley Garrett | 2000 |
Kathy Staff | 2001 |
Linda Barker | 2002 |
Nell McAndrew | 2003 |
Jane Tomlinson | 2004 |
Kay Mellor | 2005 |
Jane Tomlinson | 2006 |
Dianne Thompson CBE | 2007 |
Jilly Cooper OBE | 2008 |
Kimberley Walsh | 2009 |
Barbara Taylor-Bradford | 2010 |
Maureen Lipman CBE | 2011 |
Michelle Ping | 2012 |
Katherine Kelly | 2013 |
Helen Worth | 2014 |
Rosemary Shrager | 2015 |
Sharon Watson | 2016 |
Ann Hough | 2017 |
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi | 2018 |
Sally Wainwright | 2019 |
Dame Linda Pollard | 2021 |
Lindsey Burrow | 2022 |
SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Mick Kill | 1993 |
Darren Gough | 1994 |
Garry Schofield OBE | 1995 |
David Seaman | 1996 |
Danny Wilson | 1997 |
The Sheffield Eagles | 1998 |
Jonathan Woodgate | 1999 |
Douglas Lampkin | 2000 |
Kevin Darley | 2001 |
David Byas | 2002 |
Michael Vaughan | 2003 |
Jason Robinson & Mike Tindall | 2004 |
Michael Vaughan & Matthew Hoggard | 2005 |
Neil Warnock | 2006 |
Adil Rashid | 2007 |
Phil Brown | 2008 |
Jessica Ennis | 2009 |
Howard Webb | 2010 |
Sarah Stevenson | 2011 |
Danielle Brown | 2012 |
Alistair Brownlee | 2012 |
Jonathan Brownlee | 2012 |
Hannah Cockcroft & Nicola Wilson | 2012 |
Sue Smith | 2013 |
Kell Brook | 2014 |
Joe Root | 2015 |
Hannah Cockcroft MBE | 2016 |
Ryan Sidebottom | 2017 |
Jack Laugher | 2018 |
Chris Wilder | 2019 |
GB Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team (Yorkshire players) | 2021 |
Tom Pidcock MBE | 2022 |
BUSINESS ENTERPRISE AWARD
Vivien Duffield | 1992 |
Pioneer Electronics | 1993 |
Pace Electronics | 1994 |
Kostal UK | 1995 |
V.A.W. West Yorkshire Foundries | 1996 |
Ventura | 1997 |
Wensleydale Creamery | 1998 |
Richmond Foods | 1999 |
Kingston Communications | 2000 |
Toyoda Gosel UK Ltd | 2001 |
Esteem Systems plc | 2002 |
Park Plaza Leeds | 2003 |
Spice Holdings | 2004 |
Keepmoat plc | 2005 |
Severfield-Rowen plc | 2006 |
Cranswick plc | 2007 |
Arnold Laver Ltd | 2008 |
Mamas & Papas | 2009 |
ASDA | 2010 |
Arla Foods | 2011 |
Go Outdoors | 2012 |
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc | 2013 |
Vp plc | 2014 |
Howarth Timber | 2015 |
Karro Food Group | 2016 |
Willerby Limited | 2017 |
Polypipe | 2018 |
DFS Furniture PLC | 2019 |
Swift Group | 2021 |
John Cotton Group | 2022 |
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT AWARD
Sir Ernest Hall | 1992 |
Nicholas Page | 1993 |
Roy Castle (posthumous) | 1994 |
Jude Kelly | 1995 |
Ashley Jackson | 1996 |
Roy Clarke | 1997 |
Kay Mellor | 1998 |
Willis Hall & Keith Waterhouse | 1999 |
John Godber | 2000 |
Gaynor Faye | 2001 |
Jude Kelly | 2002 |
Bill Maynard | 2003 |
Clare Teal | 2004 |
Sir Alan Ayckbourn | 2005 |
Chris Moyles | 2006 |
G P Taylor | 2007 |
The Kaiser Chiefs | 2008 |
Simon Beaufoy | 2009 |
Marke Herbert | 2010 |
Clare Teal | 2011 |
Grimethorpe Colliery Band | 2012 |
Billy Pearce | 2013 |
Reece Dinsdale | 2014 |
Simon Armitage CBE | 2015 |
Kelvin Fletcher | 2016 |
Huddersfield Choral Society | 2017 |
BBC & ITV | 2018 |
Sally Joynson | 2019 |
Yorkshire Sculpture Park | 2021 |
Emmerdale (Cast and Crew) | 2022 |
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Michael Clegg | 1992 |
Lawrence Batley | 1993 |
Ken Morrison | 1994 |
Victor Watson | 1995 |
Earl of Harewood KBE | 1996 |
Rt. Hon Lord Mason | 1997 |
Prof. Tom Kilburn FRS CB | 1998 |
Lord Brian Rix | 1999 |
Arnold Ziff OBE | 2000 |
Baroness Betty Boothroyd | 2001 |
Ian Carmichael | 2002 |
Dr Fanny Waterman CBE | 2003 |
Barry Cryer | 2004 |
Brian Turner | 2005 |
Ashley Jackson | 2006 |
Paul Sykes | 2007 |
Jonathan Wild | 2008 |
Balbir Panesar | 2009 |
Dr Ingrid Roscoe | 2010 |
Sir Bernhard Ingham | 2011 |
John Godber | 2012 |
Linda Pollard CBE | 2013 |
Dame Judi Dench CH DBE | 2014 |
Sir David Wootton | 2015 |
Gary Hetherington | 2016 |
Dickie Bird OBE | 2017 |
Kay Mellor OBE | 2018 |
Archbishop John Sentamu | 2019 |
Sir Michael Parkinson | 2021 |
Harry Gration MBE (posthumous) | 2022 |
COMMUNITY HERO AWARD
Joan Allen (NSPCC) | 1998 |
Dr John Rayner (Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) | 1999 |
Audrey Farnell (Federation of Disability Sport) | 2000 |
Douglas Thomson (Manorlands Hospice) | 2001 |
Sheila Miller (St Gemma’s Hospice) | 2002 |
Bill Exley (Huddersfield Royal Infirmary) | 2003 |
Martin Duffield | 2004 |
Donna Jones | 2005 |
Inderpal Randhawa | 2006 |
Ann Humberstone | 2007 |
Ernest and Elizabeth Hibbert | 2008 |
Val Lepadat | 2009 |
Claire Wood | 2010 |
Sue King | 2011 |
Sam Oldroyd | 2012 |
Mike Collins | 2013 |
Adrian Woods MBE | 2014 |
Shephen Shippey | 2015 |
Bob Smith | 2016 |
Colin Findley | 2017 |
Sarah Hinton | 2018 |
Natalie Barnes | 2019 |
Bex Wilson | 2021 |
Dr Amir Khan | 2022 |
SPECIAL AWARD
PC Ken Moss | 1993 |
Paul Williams | 1994 |
Richard Whiteley | 1995 |
John Charles | 2001 |
Jane Tomlinson | 2002 |
Gareth Gates | 2002 |
Mike Tomlinson | 2003 |
The ‘Calendar Girls’ | 2003 |
Jane Tomlinson | 2007 |
Cyril Villiers MBE | 2012 |
Joan Villiers | 2012 |
Craig Wood | 2013 |
Jonny Mitchell | 2014 |
Chris Leach MBE | 2016 |
Manchester City Council | 2017 |
Welcome to Yorkshire | 2018 |
Rob Burrow | 2019 |
The Yorkshire Regiment | 2021 |
Dr Arthur France MBE | 2022 |
RICHARD WHITELEY AWARD
Sir Paul Fox | 2005 |
Sharon Beshenivsky (posthumous) | 2006 |
The Velcade Three (Jacky Pickles, Janice Wrigglesworth, Marie Morton) | 2007 |
Adrian Sudbury (posthumous) | 2008 |
Diane Dernie | 2009 |
Help for Heroes | 2010 |
Andy McMenemy | 2011 |
Judy Bell MBE | 2014 |
Bailey Matthews | 2015 |
Yorkshire Rows | 2016 |
Kash Singh | 2017 |
Mark Gregory | 2018 |
Dales Community Pop Choir | 2019 |
Milly Johnson | 2021 |
Paul Stead | 2022 |
YOUNG PERSON AWARD
Unawarded | 2022 |
INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Jet2 | 2022 |
MAKE A NOMINATION
You can nominate someone for a Yorkshire Award here.
Complete the form opposite with your contact details and your nomination. All nominations are considered by the Awards committee and their decision is final.
There are eleven Award categories to choose from:
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
COMMUNITY HERO
BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
MAN OF THE YEAR
SPECIAL
RICHARD WHITELEY
YOUNG PERSON
INTERNATIONAL
CONTACT US
The best way to contact the Yorkshire Awards is by email. Please write to: awards@theyorkshiresociety.org