Women in Defence Awards 2018

9 Nov 2018 02:12 PM

The winners of the Women in Defence UK Awards 2018 were announced by the Secretary of State for Defence, The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP, at a ceremony at the Imperial War Museum in London on Tuesday 6th November 2018. MI5 and GCHQ finalists were successful in two of the ten categories.

Women in Defence Awards 2018 Logo

This year, in the awards' third year, there were 300 nominations received from across the defence community. MI5, GCHQ and SIS put forward a number of nominations, and from them eight individuals and teams were shortlisted. Four finalists were selected and of those, two won awards. It represents a great endorsement of the contribution we collectively make to keep the country safe.

Andrew Parker, Director General MI5 recently said: 

Congratulations to Victoria and to our GCHQ colleagues for their success at the Women in Defence Awards 2018. I'm pleased that they have been recognised for their excellent work keeping the country safe, and for making MI5 and the intelligence agencies great places to work.

Jeremy Fleming, Director GCHQ recently commented:

I am incredibly proud that teams from GCHQ, MI5 and our military partners have been recognised at the Women in Defence Awards. It's rare to be able to publicly celebrate the hard work they and their colleagues do for the intelligence and defence community to help keep the country safe.

Angela Owen, founder of Women in Defence UK recently stated:

We're delighted to have seen such an inspiring and diverse list of finalists during this special year marking the centenary of suffrage. Each finalist - ranging in rank from Lance Corporal to Captain Royal Navy and comprising women and teams from all three of the Armed Forces, the MOD Civil Service, GCHQ and MI5, defence industry and the Houses of Parliament Security - should feel rightly proud of their exceptional achievements and recognition within the defence community.

Women in Defence UK was set up in 2011 as "a community of people who wish to promote the value of women in defence". They aim to "encourage women to succeed authentically, share experience, build networks and encourage talent at all levels to join the defence sector".

To see the full list of awards, visit the Women in Defence website. Congratulations to all the winners.