The RCVS Inspiration Award

The RCVS Inspiration Award was agreed by RCVS Council in 2017, with the first awards being bestowed at Royal College Day in July 2018.

This award is given to a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse who has demonstrated the ability to inspire and enthuse others consistently throughout his or her career.

It is open to those who have inspired and motivated a range of individuals who have worked anywhere within the professions. The award recognises those who have gone ‘above and beyond’ what may normally be expected from a professional colleague and who have consistently inspired.

Nominations can be made by any MRCVS or RVN, excluding current RCVS Council and VN Council members.

Up to two RCVS Inspiration Awards may be made in any year.

The nomination period for the 2025 RCVS Honours & Awards in now open. Nominations close at 5pm on Friday 13 December 2024. To nominate somebody for the Inspiration Award, please download the nomination form at the bottom of this page.

Please note, to fill out the form you will need to open it using Adobe Acrobat, edit it, then save it, and send it back to us. If you experience any issues with the form, please send the information requested on the form in a word document instead, to Antalena Alexandre, Executive Assistant to the CEO, on [email protected].

This award is also open to self-nomination. If you are self-nominating, please be sure to complete this form in the third person using your own name and preferred pronouns in place of 'I' to avoid bias.

Successful nominees for RCVS Honours & Awards will be announced in March 2025 and invited to attend Royal College Day in July 2025.

Previous RCVS Inspiration Award recipients

2024: Alexandra Taylor RVN, was nominated for her internationally acclaimed work in feline nursing. She is the Cat Wellbeing and Behaviour Advisor for International Cat Care, where she plays a global role in educating cat owners, veterinary teams and all those who work with cats about how to optimise the care and welfare of cats.

2023: Dr Katie Ford MRCVS, is the co-founder and director of Vet Empowered, and was nominated for her dedication to supporting and inspiring veterinary professionals, for example, by bravely sharing her own experiences of imposterism, low confidence, and mental health in order to signpost and encourage others to seek out help, support, and self-compassion.

2023: Dr Laura Higham MRCVS, is the founder and director of Vet Sustain, and was nominated for her role in supporting veterinary professionals to become champions for sustainability and campaigners on issues relating to the environment and climate change. 2022: Dr Alex Davies MRCVS, was recognised for his role as President of Vet Mentor, a non-profit organisation dedicated to students who are aspiring to study veterinary medicine at university. During his involvement with Vet Mentor, Alex has come up with new educational programmes to inspire, inform and prepare future vets for their university application and their studies. 

2022: Dr Alex Davies MRCVS, was recognised for his role as President of Vet Mentor, a non-profit organisation dedicated to students who are aspiring to study veterinary medicine at university. During his involvement with Vet Mentor, Alex has come up with new educational programmes to inspire, inform and prepare future vets for their university application and their studies. 

2022: Brian Faulkner FRCVS, was recognised for his role in championing the importance of non-clinical skills for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses, as well as his promotion of the wider veterinary team as a co-founder of the British Veterinary Receptionist Association and the Accredited Veterinary Receptionist Award. 

2021: Dr Daniella Dos Santos FRCVS, previously the youngest ever President of the BVA who was nominated for the leadership role she took during the coronavirus pandemic. Her nominator Cat Henstridge MRCVS, said that Daniella had been a true inspiration to the profession during the pandemic, leading from the front with a calm, considered and sympathetic attitude and clearly setting out a path for the rest of the profession to follow. 

2021: Professor Mandy Peffers FRCVS, a Wellcome Trust Clinical Intermediate Fellow in Musculoskeletal & Ageing Science at the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences at the University of Liverpool. Her nominator Eithne Comerford FRCVS, Professor of Small Animal Surgery at Liverpool, said Mandy was an inspiration for taking a ‘quantum career leap’ from being a practising veterinary surgeon balancing work and family commitments to entering academia as a Wellcome Trust researcher. 

2020: Dr Freda Scott-Park MRCVS, former president of both the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) as well as the current coordinator of the Highlands & Islands Veterinary Services Scheme, for her leading role in The Links Group, an organisation which seeks to identify and raise awareness of the links between human-to-animal abuse and other forms of abusive behaviour.

2019: Dr Laura Mary Muir MRCVS, for the positive influence she has had on the veterinary community due to successfully combining study demands with the rigours of elite sport - combining her undergraduate education with a world-class athletics career.

2019: Louise Northway RVN, for constantly championing the valued skills of veterinary nurses and their contribution to the veterinary community via her well-known social media platform ‘Lou the Vet Nurse’ and, more recently, through her role on the British Veterinary Nursing Association’s governing Council. 

2018: Professor Derek Knottenbelt OBE MRCVS, Emeritus Professor in Equine Internal Medicine at the University of Liverpool in recognition of his inspiring generations of veterinary students, residents and Specialists. Please take a listen to our RCVS Podcast interview with Derek talking about how members of the profession can seize the day and inspire their peers.

2018: Dr Ebony Escalona MRCVS for her work as a veterinary advisor at the Brooke equine charity and as the founding member of the Vets: Stay, Go, Diversify Facebook group which encourages veterinary surgeons to share their experiences and ideas on career progression.Please take a listen to our RCVS Podcast interview with Ebony talking about the many doors that can be opened with a 'veterinary passport'.