Anyone know how to switch these off?

I keep getting forum notifications (seemingly every second day) telling me I've been awarded/given back something. It's annoying because I only want the notifications box to tell me something useful (eg a PM). If I ignore it the damn thing doesn't go away until I click on it. And to compound my annoyance I don't know what the notification is about unless I click on it anyway!

Is it just me being a grump or do others find it annoying!?!?