Please note that workshops to help with the application process will be held on 17 and 24 June in the City Marketing Suite. Please fill in the registration form if you are interested in attending. The workshops are open to anyone who is interested in applying regardless of whether they have applied before.
You do not need to fill the answer boxes, just ensure that it is clear exactly what both parties actually do. Try to limit your descriptions of the context of your project/programme (e.g. 'Tower Hamlets is one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK...'). While a short explanation of why a particular area and project has been chosen is helpful, the application should be primarily about your project and its impact.
Tell us as much as possible about who has benefited and in what way. The judges will be keen to know what support has been given and how this has enabled you to meet your joint aims. It may be that the partnership is only focused on enabling smoother running of the organisation, such as offering Human Resources, IT or business planning advice, in which case state the differences this has made to the management functions but also that it might have freed up more time for the community organisation to deliver its front line services.
Be honest about any challenges or disappointments you have experienced. The judges know that community involvement can be frustrating as well as rewarding. They will take into account the challenges you have overcome.
In many of the questions on the form, examples are given of information you may wish to include. These examples are not prescriptive and should merely serve as a guide to the information that it might be useful to include.
Each question has a protected maximum number of characters which allows for a slightly more than the stated word limit. Do not feel that you must use all of the words available: previous winners frequently used fewer words than the word limit.
Two or more companies may apply jointly where they are working in equal partnership on a given project. In this case, please give the names of all the companies involved but only one set of primary contact details (indicating which company they are for) and one secondary contact for reference only. In the event that a joint application should win, all parties will receive Awards.
We may take references from the community or charity partner to validate your application.
More help
Please get in touch if you need more help or a looking for some ideas of what to pull out in your application.