大象传媒

1. The 大象传媒’s Terms of Use apply to this Award, find at www.bbc.co.uk/terms. For the avoidance of doubt, for the purposes of the Terms of Use nominations are not considered a creation.

Eligibility

2. In order to nominate someone, you must be a UK resident (including Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) aged 18 or over, and not be a 大象传媒 or 大象传媒 Group company employee, employee of any of its affiliates, close relative of any such employees or connected to the awards competition directly or through a close relative.

3. To be eligible, the nominee must:

• 3.1. make a difference in the lives of others where;
• 3.1.1. this does not normally form part of their job or normally take place at their place of work unless such help goes above and beyond their paid work activities in which case an explanation will be required within your 250 word nomination (see clause 6); or
• 3.1.2. a Volunteer goes above and beyond in their voluntary activities in which case an explanation will be required within your 250 word nomination (see clause 6).
• 3.2. in the opinion of the person nominating be deserving of a 大象传媒 Award;
• 3.3. not bring the 大象传媒 into disrepute (in the 大象传媒’s sole discretion);
• 3.4. have consented or have parental consent to be nominated; and
• 3.5. be located near a participating 大象传媒 radio station (see nomination form for the list of participating stations).

A ‘Volunteer’ can be someone who is paid for some of their time but also chooses to give up some time without pay.

4. Where a nomination will be ineligible:

• 4.1. You cannot nominate yourself or a group you are a part of.
• 4.2. Those working in a campaigning position, politicians, council members, and charity spokespersons are not eligible for nomination.
• 4.3. Any previously shortlisted nominees or award winners of a 大象传媒 Make a Difference Award cannot be nominated again within the same award category in consecutive years.
• 4.4. Any 大象传媒 or 大象传媒 Group company employees, employees of any of its affiliates, close relatives of any such employees or connected to the award directly or through a close relative cannot be nominated.

5. Proof of age, identity and eligibility may be requested. The nominator will need permission from the nominee or the nominee's parents/guardians if the nominee is under 18 years of age.

How to nominate

6. Nominations can be made online at www.bbc.co.uk/makeadifference. Please provide as much information as possible to ensure the nomination can be judged for one of the categories below. Nominations will be judged on the information supplied on the online form and a subsequent interview with the nominee. The nomination should also be for the radio station area in which the nominee is based. Nominations must be up-to but no more than 250 words. Should you wish to write the nomination in a language other than English, please use the same online form and we will use online translation software to read your entry. Your entry will be judged on the translation alone up to the 250 words limit.

7. We are committed to making the nomination process as accessible as possible. Therefore, in addition to submitting your written nomination through our online form, we also welcome audio and video submissions that will be transcribed. If you prefer to nominate someone using audio or video, please note the following:

• 7.1. Only submissions in English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic or Irish can be accepted for transcription from audio or video;
• 7.2. For Welsh, Scottish Gaelic or Irish we will use manual transcription. For nominations in English, we will use AI audio to text software to help transcribe your audio or video. The applicable 大象传媒 radio station will have access to your original audio or video submission to verify the transcription; and
• 7.3. The transcription will be limited to 250 words for judging purposes and judged on the transcription alone.

8. For further accessibility assistance, please contact your 大象传媒 radio station.

9. We encourage you to nominate as many deserving individuals as you wish. However, please ensure you only nominate the same person for each category once. If multiple nominations for the same individual in the same category are received from a single nominator, only the first submission will be considered. Any additional or duplicate entries from the same nominator will be disqualified.

10. If a station receives multiple nominations for a single nominee, an editorial decision will be made as to which nomination will move forward to the judging process.

11. Nominations will open at 6.30pm on Monday 24th February 2025 and must be received no later than 5pm on Monday 31st March 2025. Any nominations received after this time will not be accepted.

• 11.1. For Channel Islands nominations only: 大象传媒 Radio Jersey and 大象传媒 Radio Guernsey are looking for one person or group to win a Make a Difference Award 2025 per radio station. You can nominate for any category using our online form and there are no changes to the requirements for each category.
• 11.2. For Radio Nan Gaidheal only: Radio Nan Gaidheal are looking for one person or group to win a Make a Difference Award 2025. You can nominate for any category using our online form and there are no changes to the requirements for each category.

12. The 大象传媒 team may contact the nominator, the nominee (his/her parent or guardian, where applicable) to verify facts and/or events, and whether the relevant consents/permissions have been obtained. The 大象传媒 may share nomination information (including the name of the nominator) submitted in the 250 words with nominees.

13. The use of generative AI tools to create or develop any part of a nomination is not permitted and will lead to disqualification.

Award Categories

14. The categories and criteria to qualify for nomination and on which winners will be selected are:

• 14.1. The Volunteer Award: Awarded to an individual who makes a notable difference to the community by giving their time voluntarily to help others.
• 14.2. The Community Group Award (supported by Morning Live): Awarded to a group of people who have helped to change the lives of others within their community.
• 14.3. The Fundraiser Award: Awarded to an individual or group of people who have gone the extra mile to raise funds for a good cause.
• 14.4. The Young Hero Award: awarded to someone under 16 who has made a positive impact in their community or achieved something exceptional.
• 14.5. The Great Neighbour Award: Awarded to an individual who helps to make the neighbourhood a better place to live or work, either on a regular basis or through a single act of kindness.
• 14.6. The Active Award: awarded to an individual or group of people who have used physical activity or sport as a way of improving the lives of those in their community.
• 14.7. The Green Award: Awarded to an individual or group of people who improve or conserve their local environment.
• 14.8. The Animal Award: Awarded to either a remarkable animal that improves peoples lives, or an individual or group of people who improve the welfare of animals.

Judging Process

15. The Make a Difference team will do an initial sift of all entries before a longlist is passed to the judges.

16. A panel of external judges and 大象传媒 representatives for each radio station area will review the longlist and select a shortlist of four finalists per category from the nominations in that region.

17. The four nominees who have been shortlisted will be notified by 19th June 2025. The 大象传媒 will contact these nominees to arrange a non-broadcast interview about being nominated for the Awards. The details of the interview will be passed to the final judging panel and will be taken into the final considerations when selecting a winner. Should any nominee not complete this interview, the 大象传媒 reserves the right to disqualify the nominee.

18. Another judge in each region and for each category will select a winner from the four finalists in that region and category.

19. For Channel Islands and Radio Nan Gaidheal only: The nominations from each of the categories will be judged together by the judging panel for each station and an overall winner for a Make a Difference Award 2025 for each radio station will be selected, rather than for each individual category. The nominee interview outlined at clause 17 above is not applicable for Channel Islands and Radio Nan Gaidheal.

20. The 大象传媒 may undertake a separate broadcast interview and/or film a nominee and nominators for social media videos. Please note, these video and audio interviews will not form part of the judging process and are for 大象传媒 editorial and promotional use only.

21. All finalists will be invited to a physical award ceremony or to take part in an awards radio or tv programme for the region in which they were nominated in 2025 where the winners of each category will be announced. The finalists invited to a physical award ceremony shall be responsible for all travel expenses and the 大象传媒 shall not be responsible for any other fee, expense or cost.

22. The 大象传媒's decision as to the winners is final. Whilst we do not have the resources to engage in correspondence with every individual and feedback as to the merits of a particular entry will not be made available normally, we aim to be as inclusive as possible. If you have any questions or if you have any issues in submitting or completing the form, please let us know at: makeadifference@bbc.co.uk

23. The award ceremonies will be recorded and the audio and video will be edited and used for broadcast and social media.

24. The prize will consist of a trophy. There is no cash alternative and the prize cannot be sold or transferred in any circumstances. No commercial gain can be made from using or referencing the 大象传媒 brand, the award itself or any other element of this awards process.

25. Nominees and nominators must agree to take part in any pre or post-award publicity if required.

General

26. The Award team may undertake due diligence and social media checks of entrants to the Award. Nominators and nominees warrant they have not acted or omitted to act in a manner that will bring the 大象传媒 into disrepute. Information discovered or that may have been disclosed by the entrants themselves will inform the decision as to the selection of the finalists. Disqualification will not be automatic but the decision is in the sole discretion of the 大象传媒. Information will be shared with the 大象传媒’s editorial policy advisor for the Make a Difference Awards 2025 and be handled in the strictest confidence and as with all personal data, in accordance with the 大象传媒’s Privacy Notice.

27. The 大象传媒 reserves the right to: (i) vary these Rules, including but not limited to, opening and close times of the awards nominations and the award ceremonies; (ii) disqualify any nomination that breaches the rules, is fraudulent in any way or brings the 大象传媒 into disrepute; (iii) move nominees into another category should they see fit or not make an award if nominations don’t reach the required standard and (iv) cancel the awards, at any stage, if in its opinion it is deemed necessary or if circumstances arise outside its control.

28. The 大象传媒, their sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure, loss of data via use of a third-party email platform or malfunction, nor for any other problem which may result in any nomination not being properly registered.

29. Persons nominating and nominees will be deemed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them.

30. The promoter of the awards is the British Broadcasting Corporation, and these Rules are subject to the laws of England and Wales.

31. To the extent that it applies, these Awards comply with the .

32. To the extent permitted by law, the 大象传媒 will not be liable for any loss or damage (whether such damage or losses were foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise) including financial, reputational loss or disappointment.

33. To find out how we will use your personal data please read our Privacy Notice here. If you want to withdraw your submission or request that your personal data is removed then please email makeadifference@bbc.co.uk - for more information please see the Privacy Notice. Removal of your personal data may result in your withdrawal from the Awards.