‘Exceptional contributions’ celebrated with SSAFA’s Sir James Gildea Awards

14 July 2026

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, has celebrated the priceless work of its volunteers, employees, teams, and partners during its Annual Members’ Meeting at the Victory Services Club in London.

Presented this year on July 9, the Sir James Gildea Global Awards were created to recognise exceptional contributions and commitment to SSAFA’s activities and values. This year, the presentations had a novel twist: they were made by two of Sir James’s descendants, Edward Gildea and David Santa-Olalla DSO MC. Edward is, among many other things, a retired headteacher, and David is the Regional Chair of SSAFA London.

Individual volunteers of SSAFA’s East Midlands, Herefordshire, Sussex, Fife, and Cumbria branches were honoured, as was the chair of the Salisbury Plain Serving Community Team (SCT) with the Sir James Gildea Global Volunteer Award. The Lincolnshire Branch was recognised with this year’s Prince Michael of Kent Award, named in honour of SSAFA’s President.

Pat Kirkham, Community Engagement Volunteer in Sussex, has an astonishing 50 years’ voluntary service with SSAFA under her belt. She was nominated for a Global Volunteer Award for being the primary organiser of the Sussex Branch Annual Winter Concert, running the event with support from her husband after taking over from her late father, who started the fundraising concert in the late 1980s.

Pat’s citation describes her as “… an outstanding example of the dedicated selfless service volunteers give to our charity.” Pat said modestly: “I did my bit in the way of fundraising,” adding: “In this uncertain world our Armed Forces need continuing support. SSAFA is still vital in supporting our Armed Forces, both serving and veterans, and their families and dependants.”

Another Global Volunteer Award went to Community Engagement Volunteer Tim Howson of the Herefordshire Branch, who has 15 years’ voluntary service with SSAFA to his credit.

Tim’s citation begins simply: “Tim is an exemplar,” and goes on to say “He is polite, compassionate, respectful of others and non-judgemental, and his leadership has inspired, influenced, and contributed to very high morale amongst his fellow Herefordshire colleagues to give their best.”

Tim, a retired Air Commodore, noted: “Working with the wonderful SSAFA volunteers has always been enjoyable, and it was a huge honour to lead our local branch for 10 years. This Sir James Gildea Award is really for them – they are, and continue to be, brilliant.”

There were also Global Staff Awards for the South West Regional Team and Shannon Blanks, a member of the Safeguarding Team.

Shannon was nominated for transforming safeguarding support to regional offices, improving response times, and providing same-day support and practical guidance on urgent safeguarding referrals.

She has served with SSAFA for five years and has a personal connection to the military community. This includes her husband, who is in the RAF, and her grandfather, who served in the Armed Forces.

Shannon’s citation highlights how her “… continued support strengthens safeguarding practice across SSAFA and ensures employees and volunteers have confidence that their decisions and referrals align with best practice.”

It also recognises her as “… an asset to the organisation and a strong example of SSAFA’s values of Compassion, Commitment, Integrity, and Understanding.”

Shannon said: “Grampy sadly passed away in November and was incredibly proud of my work with SSAFA and of me supporting serving personnel, veterans, and their families. His experiences, and my husband’s, have given me a strong understanding of military life and the unique challenges faced by both serving personnel and their families.”

She added: “This award means a great deal to me. It recognises work that I’m incredibly passionate about and proud of. Given my husband’s service and my grandfather’s legacy, supporting the Armed Forces community means so much to me.

“Receiving this award feels like an honour not just for me, but for my husband and Grampy.”