Prepare to enter
Except where indicated, website URLs and submissions for 2024 should relate to the fifteen-month period October 1, 2022 – December 31, 2023. If you submit a duplicate entry by accident or in error, we will process each entry before a decision about their duplication can be made. Regrettably, any duplicated entry fee will not be refunded, unless the duplication was caused by a technical error outside our control. Entries must be in English, including the website page reached using any URL you provide on the entry form.
The organisers reserve the right to retain entries for subsequent publication in Care Home Management and other media, both online and offline, in ways that enhance the standing of entrants, supporting sponsors and the Care Home Awards themselves. Descriptions of submissions from winners and runners-up will be published in connection with the Care Home Awards and may be used as examples of excellence at linked conferences or to promote the Awards in future years.
Entrants may mark certain sensitive parts of their entry ‘not for publication’ (such as financial data, etc.), provided such restrictions are not used unreasonably.
Remember: if online activities feature in your entry it is always helpful to include independent evaluation of your care home or facilities by an accredited service.
Choose your categories
Before you go online and complete your entry form, you will need to prepare your submission paper, which must be relevant to the category you wish to enter. If you are entering more than one category, please make sure that your very important 100-word summary is truly relevant to each category you enter.
Follow these guidelines
Entries to the Care Home Awards must be submitted online. Your written entry must be no more than 1,500 words in English (12 point type, single line spacing) saved in PDF format (10MB maximum file size), uploaded from your desktop to the Care Home Awards’ website. All entries should be uploaded following the template sections listed below. The Judges may vote lower any entry exceeding the word count.
Please adhere to these basic rules of entry, together with any other specific criteria described below.
Template guide
Your completed entry form and your written entry are the basis on which each entry will be voted for by the judges and short-listed. Your written document should respond to any individual category criteria relevant to your entry – in other words, it helps if you follow the sub-headings listed below.
At the beginning of your document please list the following information:
- Category entered
- Name of company/care home or product or service about which the entry has been written
- Title of entry (e.g. New Spa Facilities, Opening of New Care Home, Investment in Nursing Care, Re-landscaping the Gardens, etc)
- 100-word summary of the entry (these will be the first words the judges read about your entry, so please make them count)
- Any relevant URL for online activity or references
- Any link to video material stored (e.g. YouTube or Vimeo)
- Name of entering company if different
Please try to use the following as sub-headings, within your submission, under which you provide your clear explanation for the judges.
- Description of group, care home, product or service
- Reasons why the judges should take notice of your entry in the chosen category
- Current aims
- Future plans / ambitions
- Strategic thinking (especially if new strategy put in place during the eligibility period)
- Innovation / creative thinking (new thinking, new departures, new techniques)
- Evaluation including formal summary of results, ROI, accreditation and reviews from residents and family members
Support material
Entries for the Care Home Awards must be submitted online.
You may need to provide physical support material (for instance printed literature, stage development plans, photographs or video) please provide a URL to a supporting micro site, or a link to YouTube or Vimeo for video files, in your submission paper. If the organisers feel that the judges will need to see physical items in support of your entry you will be notified well in advance of the judging date and asked to send the material by post.
The judges will want to feel fully informed about your activity, so please include whatever you feel is appropriate and relevant for your entry. If an entry is entered into more than one category, please indicate this clearly, but remember you need to remind the judges of the micro site URL for the support material, each time you enter. It is also extremely important that you provide a relevant 100-word summary of your entry. Taking an extra five minutes to make sure your summary is relevant to the entry is very worthwhile as it is the text the judges will read first, before reading your full submission.
Disqualifications
The organisers intend that the Care Home Awards are open to the whole sector, but any website that breaks national or international laws or offends public, religious, national or gender-specific sensitivities, or that flouts banking, compliance, advertising, promotion or Internet rules will be disqualified.
