Nominations for the Broadland Community Awards close on Thursday 27 August. Each winner picks a local charity to receive £250. Judging follows on 3 September.

Nominations for this year’s Broadland Community Awards close on Thursday 27 August. That is two days away.

The awards are run by Broadland District Council. Anyone can nominate, the form takes five to ten minutes, and each winner chooses a local charity or community organisation to receive £250 (Broadland District Council).

Timeline of the Broadland Community Awards 2026: nominations close 27 August, judging panel 3 September, ceremony 15 October at Royal Norwich Golf Club
Only the first of the three dates is one you can still do anything about.

The categories

The council’s own page lists nine:

  • Healthy & Active Award, for those who encourage health, wellbeing and active lifestyles
  • Young Achiever of the Year, for an inspiring young person
  • Volunteer of the Year, for a dedicated volunteer
  • Connecting Communities Award, for those who bring people together
  • Environmental Champion Award
  • Business in the Community Award, for businesses that go beyond their trade
  • Community Organisation of the Year
  • Rising Star Award, for someone or a newly formed group early in their volunteering
  • Lifetime Achievement Award

One small warning if you are counting. The awards page says the awards “cover eight categories” and then lists nine. The council’s news release of 18 August says nine. Last year’s release said ten, while the winners page for 2025 records nine winners. Nominate in whichever of the nine best fits the person or group, and do not read anything into the number.

The condition nobody mentions

There is one eligibility check buried in the council’s frequently asked questions that is worth knowing before you spend ten minutes on a form.

All nominee’s will be checked by Broadland District Council departments for any outstanding balances.

In other words, a nominee who owes the council money can be screened out. The page does not say what counts as an outstanding balance or whether it applies to organisations as well as individuals.

The council also says it will only contact you if it needs more information about your nomination, so no reply is not a rejection. Shortlisted nominees are told separately, and updates go on the council’s website and social media.

What happened last year

The 2025 awards were held on 16 October at Royal Norwich Golf Club in Weston Longville, which is itself in Broadland, and the council described them then as being in their 12th year.

The organisations that won give a fair idea of what the judges respond to (Broadland District Council winners page):

  • The Shoulder of Mutton, Strumpshaw, took Business in the Community, for turning a village pub into a place that does more than sell beer
  • Go Paddle Norfolk won Healthy and Active
  • The Black Dog Music Project, a charity using music in mental health recovery, won Connecting Communities
  • Social Moments Enterprise was Community Organisation of the Year, for work in Broadland’s food pantries and youth programmes
  • St Faiths Sunflowers provided the Environmental Champion winner, for reviving green spaces

The individual winners in the Volunteer, Young Achiever, Rising Star and Lifetime Achievement categories are named on the council’s own page. One of them had given more than twenty years to local schools and Brownies, another had spent decades volunteering in Buxton.

What it means for you

If you have someone in mind, do it before Thursday ends. Nominations close on 27 August and the judging panel sits on 3 September, so there is no quiet extension window afterwards.

You do not need to be connected to the person. The council says the best way it hears about these people is from the community itself, and asks for stories, examples and photos rather than a bare name.

One nomination per nominee. If you have several people in mind, submit separate forms. Extra evidence goes to communities@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk with the nominee’s name and category.

If you are shortlisted, the night is 15 October at Royal Norwich Golf Club, Weston Longville.

The nomination form sits on the council’s Broadland Community Awards page. The communities team is at The Horizon Centre, Broadland Business Park, Peachman Way, Norwich NR7 0WF, on 01603 430611.

Sources