1. Location & Status
    1. The West Country Women Awards are open to all women across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset only.
    2. Posthumous nominations can not be accepted.
  2. No public voting or asking for “votes”
    1. A nomination is the key which unlocks the journey for a West Country Women Awards nominee.
    2. Only a single nomination for a person is required (per category) to begin the awards journey.
    3. This is NOT a voting system, nor do we hold a public vote, (multiple nominations are disregarded).
    4. You should not request on social media for people to “vote” or “nominate” you.
      1. If you do this:
        1. You should edit your post once you have a valid nomination for you to complete an application form.
        2. We may email you when we have identified a pattern of multiple/duplicate nominations to edit your post to avoid further duplications.
  3. Who can be nominated?
    1. Entries are sought from, or on behalf of, women who have made an outstanding impact in their field of expertise, in relation to the categories listed.
    2. Join us in recognising, celebrating, and raising the profile of truly worthy women in the West Country region.
  4. What is the timeline for 2024?
    1. 18th April 2024 – Nominations Open, Applications Open.
    2. 7th August 2024 – Nominations Close (no extensions will be permitted).
    3. 14th August 2024 – Applications Close (no extensions will be permitted).
    4. Judging by Category Sponsors / Ambassadors is from 19th August 2024 until 29th August 2024
    5. 6 x Semi Finalists in each category (plus Golden Ticket winners) will be announced on 17th September 2024 at Somerset County Cricket Club
    6. 4 x Finalists in each category will be announced on 4th November 2024 at Powderham Castle
    7. The Winner will be announced on 28th November 2024 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Plymouth.
  5. Please note the following rules when making your nominations:
    1. Individuals may be nominated by someone else or may nominate themselves.
    2. All entries will be treated confidentially.
    3. Nominations can be made for one or all categories, as long as they are relevent.
      1. If you wish to be considered for or to nominate an individual for, more than one category, please submit one separate nomination form per category.
    4. Nominees must complete the full application form, including requried uploads to be sent/submitted.
    5. An application form may be sent in Word format (see download on form) if the digital form won’t sent for technical reasons.
    6. Extra supporting evidence, may not be attached to applications at a later date.
    7. If you wish to be considered for or to nominate an individual for, more than one category, please submit one separate nomination form per category.
  6. Nominees & Applicants
    1. Nominees will be contacted by the West Country Women Awards
      1. with weekly newsletters,
      2. reminders to complete applications
      3. details of upcoming events
      4. the status of your application (shortlisted or not)
      5. for further details about your application, e.g. a request for additional information,
    2. Applicants must supply a name and business name to enter their application
      1. Applicants must be a minimum of one women’s name.
      2. Applicants may enter as a duo i.e. 2 women on one application
      3. Applicants may enter as a group i.e. more than 2 women (men in the group should not be entered).
        1. A single woman must be listed as lead applicant (a business name is not sufficient)
        2. The remaining women will be listed as secondary applicants
        3. Only the lead applicant will be offered a ticket at the grand final, but at the discretion of WCWA directors, additional tickets may be offered at a discount / free dependent on availability.
        4. The directors decision is final.
      4. Applicants must be based in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset or Dorset.
        1. For clarification, we check postcodes, and full addresses, and where an applicant is not physically in one of the four counties, it will be a disqualification, and the application will not be advised, they will just not proceed to judges.
        2. For example if you are in Bristol, Wiltshire or Gloucester, you do not qualify.
        3. The reason for having the drop down counties is to show where can be applied for. Leaving “Cornwall” or “Somerset” for an application where you address does not fall in that county means automatic disqualification.
  7. Our judges
    1. In the first instance, our category sponsors will choose a team of 3 competant judges to score applications in their categories
    2. If a category is not sponsored,
      1. either our ambassadorial team
      2. or a substitute judging panel will judge the applications
    3. Must not judge applications from their own organisation, partner organisations, or friend or family – refer to 8.3.
  8. For judging applications
    1. Applicants may be asked to provide additional information relevant to their award category.
      1. For example, the judge may wish to meet with you (in person or zoom call for a chat/interview)
      2. This will be clearly explained when the applicant is contacted.
    2. Our sponsors/category judges must use the scoring matrix provided by the awards, and complete in the cloud sheet.
    3. If a judge/sponsor has a completed application from someone they know that may be a conflict of interest, the application will be scored by the Chief Ambassador to the awards.
    4. There will be 6 semi finalists (plus 1 golden ticket entry if applicable), 4 finalists and 1 winner per category only.
  9. Press and Media coverage
    1. Any applicant announced in the following groups must consent to press/media coverage, or online/offline promotional materials by both our organisation and sponsors without payment or permission.
      1. Semi Finalists
      2. Finalists
      3. Winners
  10. Nominees must not have any pending or ongoing legal proceedings that will bring the West Country Women Awards into disrepute.
  11. Applicants Attendance
    1. Wherever possible, applicants should make best efforts to attend the Semi Finalist Announcement 17th September 2024 at Somerset County Cricket Club
    2. All Semi Finalists will be required to attend the Finalist Announcement on 4th November 2024 at Powderham Castle
    3. All Finalists MUST be in attendance on the 28th November 2024 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Plymouth.
      1. Finalists not attending the Grand Final in Plymouth may not be elegible to win their category
  12. Nominations
    1. By nominating a nominee, you are agreeing that the nominee you have selected will be happy to be contacted and this individual’s name may be used in any related publicity by us, our partners, and sponsors without payment or permission.
    2. Nominations can be made using the online entry form only.
    3. Applications should be completed using the online entry form, but the backup Word document can be used if required.
  13. Other
    1. All nominees must be aged 18 or over on the date of their nomination.
    2. All nominees must be those who identify as female.
    3. We welcome nominations/applications from members of the LGBTQIA+ communities.
      West Country Women Awards CIC and its affiliates, directors, staff, contractors, partners, ambassadors, and sponsors will not be responsible unless required by law, for any loss, changes, costs, or expenses, which may arise in connection with this awards
    4. West Country Women Awards, can cancel or alter the awards process and requirements at any stage.
    5. Judges’ decisions are final.
    6. Any dispute relating to the competition shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales and will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
  14. Wins
    1. An applicant may be selected as a Semi Finalist or Finalist in more than one category.
    2. An applicant may be selected in only ONE category as a winner
    3. The Nominations Manager will liase with judges/sponsors to select alternative winner where a winner is already selected in another category
      1. Winners names will be first come first served.
      2. The Nominations Manager decision is final.
    4. If a winner from a previous year wishes to apply again in future years, they should not apply for the category they previously won.
      1. If they do, they will be entered, and may be announced as semi finalists/finalists but they wont be elegible to win.
  15. Contact
    1. The West Country Women Awards is run by co-founders/directors Alexis Bowater and Tess Stuber.
    2. The Nominations Manager is Chris James
    3. Any problems with nominations/applications systems can be sent to chris@womenawards.co.uk
    4. The Nominations Manager along with Judges are the only people who know the outcome of judging/scoring, the directors do not participate in this process for it to remain impartial.
    5. The Nominations Manager is assisted with verifications and checking by Mariusz Siemienicki.