Knife Crime Prevention Awards

Nominations Guidelines

These guidelines explain how to submit a fair, independent and authentic nomination.

Last updated: 10 June 2026

1. Purpose of the nominations process

The Knife Crime Prevention Awards recognises people and organisations helping to prevent knife crime, protect young lives, support communities, raise awareness, educate others or create positive change.

These guidelines explain how nominations should be submitted and how KCPA may review them.

2. Who can nominate

Anyone may submit a nomination, provided they act independently, honestly and in good faith. You do not need to be a member of KCPA to nominate, and guests may submit nominations through the public nomination form.

However, to protect the fairness and credibility of the awards, some people should not submit certain nominations because of a conflict of interest.

3. Who must not nominate

You must not submit a nomination where you are too closely connected to the nominee or where you may receive a personal, professional, financial or reputational benefit from the nomination.

  • You must not nominate yourself.
  • You must not nominate a spouse, partner or someone you live with.
  • You must not nominate a close family member, including a parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, in-law or step-family member.
  • You must not nominate a close personal friend where the relationship could affect independence.
  • You must not nominate someone you directly supervise, manage or appraise.
  • You must not nominate your direct manager, supervisor or someone who has control over your employment, volunteering role or professional opportunities.
  • You must not nominate an organisation that employs you.
  • You must not nominate an organisation where you are a trustee, director, owner, partner, committee member, paid staff member or active decision-maker.
  • You must not nominate an organisation where you have a financial interest or may gain promotional, contractual or reputational benefit.
  • You must not submit a nomination on behalf of someone else to avoid these restrictions.

If you are unsure whether your connection creates a conflict of interest, you should declare the relationship clearly or contact KCPA before submitting.

4. What a good nomination includes

A strong nomination explains who the nominee is, what they have done, why their work matters, who has benefited, what impact has been achieved and why the chosen award category is appropriate.

Good nominations are specific. They avoid vague praise and instead provide examples, outcomes, community impact, evidence, links, references or supporting details.

5. Person and organisation nominations

You may nominate either a person or an organisation. Person nominations should focus on the individual’s actions, leadership, courage, commitment or contribution. Organisation nominations should focus on the organisation’s work, programmes, community reach, outcomes and impact.

6. Award categories

You should choose the award category that best matches the nominee’s work. KCPA may move a nomination to a different category if it appears more suitable.

If a nominee has already been nominated in a category, duplicate nominations for the same nominee and category may be blocked, merged, treated as support, or rejected.

7. Accuracy and evidence

Nominations must be accurate to the best of your knowledge. Do not exaggerate, invent achievements, submit misleading evidence, copy information without permission or make claims you cannot reasonably support.

KCPA may ask for further information, check public sources, contact relevant people or request evidence as part of the review process.

8. Verification

A verified nomination means KCPA judges or authorised staff have carried out authenticity checks and are satisfied that the nomination appears genuine and suitable to proceed. Verification does not guarantee that the nominee will win an award.

Verified nominations may display a verification indicator on nominee profiles.

9. Support comments

Members of the public may be able to support an existing nominee. Support comments must be genuine, respectful and relevant. Fake, duplicate, abusive or misleading support may be removed.

10. Safeguarding and privacy

Do not include unnecessary private information, graphic descriptions, addresses, school details, children’s identifying details, ongoing case information or anything that could put another person at risk.

If a nomination involves sensitive circumstances, explain the impact carefully and respectfully without exposing people to avoidable risk.

11. Reasons a nomination may be rejected

  • The nomination appears false, misleading or abusive.
  • The nominator has a conflict of interest.
  • The nomination lacks enough information to assess.
  • The nomination contains unsafe or inappropriate content.
  • The same nominee has already been nominated in the same category.
  • The nomination does not relate to knife crime prevention, community safety or the awards criteria.
  • The nomination appears to be submitted for self-promotion or manipulation.

12. Judging

Judges may consider impact, authenticity, relevance, evidence, community benefit, consistency with the award category and the overall strength of the nomination. Judging decisions are made in accordance with KCPA processes.

13. Final decision

KCPA may approve, reject, merge, move, verify, hide or remove nominations where required to protect fairness, safety and the integrity of the awards.