The Steve Franks 'Shining Star' Award for Excellence and Innovation

• Innovation: Demonstrates creative approaches that have significantly enhanced the children's activities landscape.
• Impact: Shows measurable positive outcomes for children, families, community or the children's activities sector.
• Leadership: Exhibits visionary guidance and inspires others within the sector.
• Sustainability: Implements practices ensuring long-term benefits and continuous improvement.

The Morton Michel Remarkable Achievement Award

• Significant Accomplishment: Achieved a noteworthy milestone or overcome substantial challenges.
• Community Engagement: Actively involved and positively impacted the local or wider community.
• Inspirational Story: Provides a compelling narrative that motivates and encourages others.
• Legacy: Leaves a lasting positive effect on the children's activities sector.

The ThinkSmart Software Outstanding Newcomer

Open to any children's activity provider that started their business or franchise territory in the UK after 1st January 2023

• Popularity: Gained significant traction and positive feedback from participants and parents.
• Quality of Experience: Offers engaging, safe, and developmentally appropriate classes/activities.
• Differentiation: Stands out from existing classes/activities through unique features or approaches.
• Growth Potential: Shows promise for expansion and sustainability within the sector.

The Little Starts Gift Card Diversity & Inclusion Champion

• Inclusive Practices: Actively promotes and implements policies ensuring accessibility for all children and families.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Incorporates diverse cultural perspectives and respects differences.
• Equity Advocacy: Works towards reducing barriers and providing equal opportunities for participation.
• Community Representation: Reflects the diversity of the community.

Our judging panel has been carefully selected to represent a range of perspectives, including industry experts and independent stakeholders. All judges are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest to ensure fairness and impartiality.

When voting opens, nominees in the judged award categories will also be invited to provide additional information to support their nomination. Please refer to the awards timeline for exact dates and deadlines.

Nominees will receive this request via email, sent to the address provided during the registration for the award category. If you do not receive this email, please contact us immediately.

Nominees must submit their additional information via an online form using the provided link. Optionally, nominees may also include a link to a YouTube video no longer than 3 minutes featuring themselves or, in the case of organisations, a representative. This video serves as an opportunity to further support the written nomination.  Videos longer than 3 minutes will not be viewed.

All information submitted will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and used solely for the purposes described here. Following the completion of the judging process, information will be securely stored for 12 months and then permanently deleted.

After the submission deadline, all nominee information will be assessed against the judging criteria using a standardised scoring system:

    1: Insufficient – Does not meet the criterion.
    2: Below Average – Partially meets the criterion.
    3: Average – Adequately meets the criterion.
    4: Good – Exceeds the criterion.
    5: Outstanding – Significantly exceeds the criterion.

Judges will provide written justifications for their scores to ensure accountability and transparency.

Following the initial scoring, the judging panel will convene to review the results collectively. This discussion allows judges to share insights, address discrepancies, and focus on borderline cases to ensure a thorough and fair evaluation.