Case Study: Sujan

Sujan Katuwal is the sort of community hero that the Royal Honours system loves to recognise.

His story is perhaps typical of the hundreds of people who are given Honours every year for going above and beyond to help others.

A restaurant owner in South London, his first thought when the COVID pandemic struck was not about the future of his own business as lockdown restrictions were introduced.

Instead, he decided he could give a vital service to the NHS by providing free meals for frontline staff.

Within days, he and his team at the Panas Gurkha Nepalese restaurant were delivering dozens of free meals to a local hospital. His generosity soon extended to many other sections of the community at the frontline of the pandemic such as ambulance workers, hospices, care homes, fire crews, the local army barracks in Woolwich and other key workers.

Did not slow down

As the pandemic eased, Sujan did not slow down in his community endeavours – far from it. In fact, he stepped up his engagement with the community and wider society by forming Panas Helping Hands.

Under Sujan’s leadership, this has grown to become a leading charitable organisation supporting groups such as the Greenwich Gurkha Ex-Servicemen Association, the Red Cross, winter shelters for the homeless as well as responding to overseas emergencies such as floods in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sujan again rose to the challenge providing free meals and other support for Ukrainian refugees who had come to Britain.

His incredible efforts for the community came to our attention at Awards Intelligence and we were approached by a family member to prepare a nomination.

Gathering letters

The more we discovered about Sujan’s achievements, the more impressed we were and there was plenty of media coverage to support his many endeavours – something that can help with a nomination though it is not necessary in every case, depending on the type of activity in which the person is engaged.

Our consultant Keith liaised with a small group of friends and family behind the nomination to source potential supporters across a wide range of areas, including a local MP, a Mayor, councillors and others who had benefited from Sujan’s extensive community efforts.

There were also some references and letters of thanks that Sujan had received from leading politicians in national life who were aware of his incredible public-spirited actions.

Updates

The nomination was submitted with a substantial package of letters of support and testimonials. What is perhaps unique about the Honours system, is that once an application is submitted, that is not the end of the matter. The Honours Secretariat welcome updates and even further letters of support. So, while the nomination was being considered – a process that can take 18 months or more – our consultant arranged for updates to be sent in, and a number of additional letters.

Each time an Honours list was announced, at New Year and the Birthday Honours in June, family and friends scoured the names for Sujan’s. All came good in the King’s Birthday Honours List this month (June 2025), when his name appeared with a much-deserved MBE.

Sujan said: “It’s honestly been such an honour receiving an MBE and coming on The King’s Birthday Honours List 2025. This has been possible because of our local community. Your support and love mean everything to us, and we vow to continue serving our community and the nation.”

He’s now looking forward to the investiture ceremony – and he’s already planning his next philanthropic activities to help others, particularly disadvantaged members of the community.