Browse the siteMUM'S GUIDE TO HITCHIN AWARDS 2024 - TERMS & CONDITIONS
(Published 25 November 2024)
Mum’s Guide To Limited (“MGT”) and the Hitchin Agent for Mum’s Guide To Limited (“the Agent”) are launching their first awards to celebrate Mum’s guide to Hitchin (“the Awards”).
Nominations
- Nominations are open to businesses, individuals or organisations which offer an activity, service or product to the public and which fit one of the award categories set out in clause 2 below.
- The 12 award categories are:
a) Best Activity Class or Group for Under 5s: award for the best activity class or group for children under 5, including parent and toddler groups.
b) Best Activity Class or Group for School-Age Children: award for the best activity class, group or club for children of school age, either primary or secondary school.
c) Best Holiday Club or Class: award for the best club, class or camp that runs during the school holidays for children in any age group.
d) Best Pre/Post Natal Support Service: award for the business, individual or organisation that provides the best service for pre or post-natal mothers and can include anything to do with pregnancy and post-pregnancy, including groups and classes.
e) Best Lifestyle Service for Parents: award for the business, individual or organisation that provides the best service of any type (not necessarily child-related) to local parents. (The business or service does not have to be exclusively aimed at parents but can simply be one that provides a service that caters for a busy parent’s lifestyle.)
f) Best Party and Celebrations Provider: award for the business or individual that provides the best venue, entertainment or party-related product (e.g. cakes, catering, decorations, tableware).
g) Most Family-Friendly Café/Restaurant: award for the café or restaurant which caters best for families.
h) Best Local Shop: award for the local shop, whether child-related or not, that gives customers extra-special service either by way of the staff, products, facilities and extra services or a combination of all of these.
i) Best Local Independent Business: award for the independent business (not already covered by another category) that provides the best service or product of (not necessarily child-related) to local parents.
j) Best Local Event: award for the best local event within a distance of 10 miles from the centre of Hitchin that caters for families and children.
k) Best Family Day Out: award for the place which offers value for money, all round family entertainment, fun whatever the weather or something else to make the day extra special within a distance of 20 miles from the centre of Hitchin that caters for families and children.
l) Local Volunteer of the Year: a volunteer who goes the extra mile to make Hitchin and the surrounding towns/villages/area an amazing place for children and families. (Either the role or the organisation they volunteer for must relate to or benefit children and/or families in Hitchin and the surrounding towns/villages/area.)
3. With the exception of clause 2 (j) and 2 (k) above, all nominated businesses, individuals or organisations MUST be located or operate or provide their business, service or product in Hitchin and the surrounding towns/villages/areas (Ickleford, Holwell, Pirton, Willian, Weston, Offley, Great Offley, St Ippolyts, Graveley, Little Wymondley, Charlton). In relation to clause 2(j) the event must take place within 10 miles from the centre of Hitchin, and in relation to Clause 2(k) the place must be located within a distance of 20 miles from the centre of Hitchin.
4. In relation to the Best Local Independent Business in clause 2(i) above, the business must be privately owned (not a public company), be free from outside control (so, for example, cannot be a franchise or a Multilevel Marketing business), and must operate in Hitchin and the surrounding towns/villages/areas as defined in clause 3.
5. If any nominations are received for businesses, individuals or organisations which, in the opinion of the Agent or MGT, do not satisfy the criteria set out in clauses 2 and 3 and 4 above the nomination will be excluded. The decision of the Agent and MGT is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. Nominations for the 12 categories will open on 25 November 2024 and will close at 23.59 GMT on 13 December 2024.
7. A person cannot nominate themselves or a business or organisation in which they are employed or associated.
8. Nominations can be made by completing a nomination form on https://www.mumsguideto.co.uk/hitchin/ website (“the Website”).
9. Comments included in nomination forms about a business, individual or organisation may be passed on by MGT or the Agent to the relevant business, individual or organisation. However, no name will be associated with those comments.
10. When leaving a nomination for Local Volunteer of the Year in clause 2 (l) it will be compulsory to leave a name and contact method, and comments and names included in the nomination form may be passed by MGT on to the individual, business or organisation who has been nominated, and may be published on the Website and on Mum’s guide to Hitchin social media pages.
11. There are no minimum or maximum nomination requirements; it is possible to nominate just one business, organisation or individual in just one category, or several businesses, organisations and/or individuals in a number of categories.
12. Businesses, organisations and individuals may be nominated in more than one category as long as they satisfy the relevant criteria set out in clauses 2, 3 and 4 above.
Successful Nominees
13. Successful nominees will be determined by the number of nominations they have received. Those with the most nominations will proceed to the voting stage of the Awards.
14. MGT Hitchin will publish a list of the successful nominees from the 12 Award categories on the Website w/c 16 December 2024.
15. Nominees should notify the Agent by 23.59 GMT on 20 December 2024 by email at [email protected] if they do not want to be part of the Awards.
Voting
16. Voting for the Awards will commence on 30 December 2024 and will be via an online form (available only from 30 December 2024 on the Website.
17. Voting for the Awards will close at 23.59 GMT on 17 January 2025 (“the Closing Date”).
18. A person cannot vote for themselves or a business or organisation in which they are employed or associated.
19. MGT and the Agent are committed to ensuring the Awards are fair. Only one vote per category per person(not per email address) is permitted. Additional votes cast by the same person from a different email address will be discounted. MGT and the Agent will police this as far as is possible through collection of names, email addresses, date & time of voting, and the IP address of the computer/server that each vote originates from. The IP address information is not traceable back to individuals or their locations and will be destroyed after the voting process has been completed and verified. If a person attempts to vote more than once in any category or MGT or the Agent believe a person has been given an incentive by the successful nominee to vote in a particular way their vote(s) will be discounted. Similarly, if MGT or the Agent identify suspicious and/or fraudulent voting they will take the decision, based on as much evidence as possible, whether or not to disqualify the successful nominee from the Awards. The decision of MGT and the Agent is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
20. Administration of the nominations and voting process is undertaken solely by MGT and the Agent.
21. Nominations received at the nominations stage are not carried forward to the voting stage.
Award Winners
22. Events may occur that render the completion of the Awards impossible due to reasons beyond the control of MGT and the Agent and accordingly MGT and the Agent may at their absolute discretion vary or amend the Awards, or not make an award in a certain category, and no liability shall attach to MGT or the Agent as a result thereof.
23. There will be no prizes for the winners’ of the Awards, but the names of the winners may be released to the local media and/or featured in associated articles written either by MGT, the Agent or other interested parties.
24. Winners of the Awards will be those with the most votes in their category and the winners will, where possible, be announced via the Website and via Mum’s guide to Hitchin’s Social Media pages in the week commencing 20 January 2025. If events occur which cause any sort of delay to the announcement, winners will be announced as soon as possible after 20 January 2025.
General
25. These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and the Courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.
26. MGT is a company registered in England and Wales under number 08045592 whose registered office is at 17 Park Avenue South, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2DZ.
27. By nominating and/or voting the nominator/voter agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions, MGT’s Terms of Use including the Privacy Policy. All personal data provided by the nominator/voter is governed in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
