Who can apply?
Type of Organisation
- Smaller organisations (under 250 employees and £43 million turnover) can apply to all of the awards.
- Please note: There are not separate categories, but small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are judged separately to larger organisations. For each of the categories, it is possible for two awards to be given – one to a small and the other to a large company. In all circumstances the relative size and resources of the company or community organisation will be taken into account.
- Businesses and public bodies: Applications are open to any business or public body that is making a positive impact in the London community.
- Charitable organisations: Organisations that have charitable status are only eligible to apply for the Community Partners Award.
- Social enterprises: Social enterprises are only eligible to apply for the Community Partners Award since, unlike a traditional business, their community engagement work is an extension of their core activities.
Type of Programme/Project
- The Dragon Awards recognise and celebrate community engagement in Greater London that does not constitute part of the day-to-day work of the organisation applying. Applications will not be judged to be successful if the projects or work described are judged to form part or an extension of the organisation’s core activities.
- Applications to the Dragon Awards must be submitted into one of the six categories outlined on this website, therefore the work must reflect one of these categories.
- If you have a community programme, however small, we would encourage you to submit an application. You do not need to have designated staff employed to run your programme.
- Dragon Awards reward community engagement taking place in London, not throughout the UK. Companies are, however, eligible to apply for a Dragon if their national programme has a London element. In this case, the application should reflect that London-based work.
- Applications are encouraged from organisations that work with a number of different schools and/or community partners, and also those organisations that have chosen one partner to invest significant time and resources into.
- Where two or more orgnisations are working in partnership on the same project, only one application should be submitted. In the event that the application should win, all parties will receive Awards.
- The Dragon Award judges are looking for community engagement programmes that show an exceptional commitment from staff and management. Please be prepared to show how your programme is working on a problem in a particularly new or innovative way, or is making real lasting change. For the Community Partners Award, judges will be looking for a strong relationship that adds value to the community partnership whilst fulfilling the aims of all partners involved.
Nominations
- If a corporate partner is nominating their community partner for the Community Partners Award, they must discuss the application with the community partner first. An email address for the community partner must be provided on the application form and the community partner will be notified when an application is received on their behalf.
- If a community organisation is nominating their corporate partner for an Award (other than Community Partners Award), an email address for the corporate partner must be provided on the application form and that corporate partner will be notified when an application is received on their behalf. If the nomination were successful, the Award would be given to the company and not the community organisation.
Further information can be found on the FAQs page and the guidance notes below.
