- All entries must be submitted via the official online entry system before the final deadline on 29th October at midnight
- All fees due must be paid in full before entries will be considered
- Maximum total single file upload size for supporting evidence is 4mb
- You can enter in more than one category
- All material submitted must be your own original work that you own the copyright for.
- You must hold the relevant rights and permissions to use any submitted material
- By submitting entries and evidence you infer the National Happiness Awards permission to use the material for judging, promotional and marketing purposes
- The material you submit cannot be obscene, offensive or defamatory or otherwise illegal
- The information provided (excluding all personal contact information which will remain confidential) may be used by the National Happiness Awards for marketing purposes at any time in the future. Any sensitive parts of the submission should be clearly highlighted and marked with the words ‘not for publication’
- Please ensure spellings of organisations and names of individuals are correct, as these will be published online and used throughout the Awards campaign, on marketing material and communications, across social media and on trophies if applicable
- Ensure, to the best of your ability, submissions are written correctly in publishable form as they may be used online to promote your entry and the awards in general. The better the entry is presented, the better it reflects on your organisation
- Your written entry must be no more than two A4 pages and in 12 point font size
- You can upload up to three films or Youtube clips and three additional A4 pages of evidence-based information – this includes photographs that can added to A4.
Supporting material:
Our judges love supporting material even more than they love cake, and they REALLY love cake. So make sure you back up your submissions with material that can be used as evidence. This can include videos, documents, testimonials, links to articles, photographs, surveys and pdf documents; anything that shows the judges what you’ve done and why it works. For a full list of the appropriate formats see the Awards website.
If the material is online, in the form of newspaper articles or Youtube videos, for example, supply links and test the links to make sure they work.
Psst! handy hints and tips:
- To the best of your ability, display how your nominee addresses and promotes the themes of happiness (education) or drivers of happiness (workplace) as illustrated in the Laughology Happiness Matrix. You can download these grids on the Happiness Awards page. What actions engender confidence, positive relationships, resilience, personal development and support? To make it simpler, use separate headings for each aspect.
- Tell a story with your submission. Don’t just list initiatives you or your organisation have introduced, tell us why they were introduced and what effect they’ve had. Give us an idea of your organisation or the individual you are nominating. Provide some context and a back story. What challenges have been faced? Explain the trajectory of your story – where did you start and what did you do to get to where you are?
- Chose the right category.
- Size doesn’t matter (much), the key is quality. Our judges are smarter than they look and can sniff out a contrived nomination. They’d rather see a well-constructed, individualised single nomination backed up by quality evidence than scores of short nominations for the same organisation or individual which all say the same thing.
- Quantify your submission with detail about the nominee’s creativity and innovation. Judges are looking for stand-out ideas and initiatives. Dave may well tell jokes in meetings and bring cakes in on Friday, but he needs to do a bit more to win a National Happiness Award. Tell us why Dave is so flipping great.
- Emphasise the human aspect. Everything you describe in your nomination should have an impact on the people associated with the nominee.
