Award Nominations

Lots for Tots

Nominations opened on the 24th November 2025 at 9am and will close on the 15th December 2025 at 9am.

Voting will open at 9am on the 17th December 2025 and closes on the 21st January 2026 at 9am.

Please complete the form below to enter your nominations for the Lots for Tots Awards.

You may enter as many categories as you wish, however you must complete a separate entry form for each nomination.

All nominations must be for those aged 18 and upwards.

All nominations must be based in a DE postcode.

Those who are announced as finalist will need to purchase tickets to attend the award ceremony! Each ticket is £75. The Awards night takes place on 16th May at 18:00pm.

Those shortlisted will need to purchase tickets to attend the award ceremony!

If there are unforeseen circumstances, then you can nominate someone to represent you as long as this is before the guest list is finalised.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

    Your Full Name

    Your Email Address

    Company name of the business your are nominating

    Category you wish to enter

    Social Media Page (if known)

    Website

    Person Entering

    I am nominating myself or my businessI am nominating someone else

    Entry Summary

    Terms and Conditions

    Our Awards Sponsors

    Counting Kids
    Green Square Medical Group
    Almas Industries

    Award Categories

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Session leader of the year

    Open to any individual activity leader, teacher or coach providing children’s activities operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Family photographer of the year

    Open to anyone who specialises in family, new parents, newborn, or pregnancy photography operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Baby class of the year (birth to walking)

    Open to any company or organisation with a separate programme specifically for children from birth to walking operating in Derbyshire.

    Counting Kids
    Toddler class of the year (walking to preschool)

    Open to any company or organisation with a separate programme specifically for children from walking to preschool age operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Customer excellence of the year

    Open to any customer facing business within the children's sector operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Event and party services of the year

    Open to any party supplier, provider or entertainment company specialising in children's and families parties operating in Derbyshire.

    Baby Sparks Derby West
    Charity of the year

    Open to any not-for-profit focusing on supporting, children or families from pregnancy to children of primary age Must be a registered Charity or Community Interest Group operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Independent business of the year

    Open to any small business operating in the children's sector in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Local Family attraction of the year

    Open to any family attraction operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Preschool education provider of the year

    Open to any private or mainstream education provider with preschool aged pupils operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Primary age education provider of the year

    Open to any private or mainstream education provider with primary aged pupils operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Family support service provider of the year

    Open to anyone who offers a support service to families at any stage of parenting from antenatal through to end of primary school. This is for those businesses who offer a families service that is personalised and tailored operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Sports or physical activity provider of the year

    Open to any company or organisation with a significant part of their programme based on physical activity operating in Derbyshire.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    The Public’s Business of the Year

    Open to any company or organisation operating in Derbyshire. This category must be chosen via the public for nominations and voting.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Lots for Tots Readers Choice

    Open to any company or organisation who is currently advertising in Lots for Tots Derbyshire Magazine. This category must be chosen via the public for nominations. Businesses cannot nominate themselves for this category. Decision will be made via a mix of Judges decision and public vote.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Volunteer of the Year

    Open to anyone who volunteers for a Charity or Not for Profit across Derbyshire. Person must be nominated directly by the charity or not for profit. Please note: We cannot accept nominations for those under the age of 18.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Early Years Educator of the year

    Open to anyone working in an early years setting (Nursery to Key Stage 1) across Derbyshire. Nominations can be made by the public, employers, or professionals within the sector. This category must be chosen via the public voting and will have no judges influence or decision.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Franchisee of the year

    Open to any individual running a franchise business across Derbyshire. This award celebrates dedication, growth, and excellence within a franchised model. Nominations can be made by customers, employees, franchisors, or fellow business owners.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Local Family Food Retailer of the year

    This award celebrates a family-run café or restaurant based in Derbyshire that puts families first — offering great food, a welcoming atmosphere, and a place where all ages feel at home.

    Lots for Tots Awards
    Behind the Scenes Star

    Celebrating the unsung heroes who keep everything running smoothly — from planners, admins, assistants, chefs, and cleaners to those supporting baby classes, activity groups, nurseries, schools, and family businesses. Their hard work often goes unseen, but makes a huge difference every day. This category must be chosen via the public voting and will have no judges influence or decision.

    Our Judges

    Lots For Tots Awards

    Our judges have been specially chosen to perform the tough task of helping to decide the winners for each of our award categories. They will be individually reviewing and scoring finalist submissions against our criteria of each award category.

    We are incredibly grateful and would like to thank the members of our independent judging panel for giving up their time, skills and know-how to review our well-deserved Shortlisted finalists.

    Chris and Hayley

    Sam Moore

    Libby Layton

    Morgan

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Lots for Tots Awards

    Do I need to advertise with Lots for Tots to enter the awards?

    No anyone can enter. If you aren’t already part of Lots for Tots why not download our media pack and look at the different options we have available. We run a magazine which comes out 4 times a year along with lots of different events through the year.

    What is the awards timeline?

    Nominations:

    • Opens on Monday 24th November 2025 – 9am
    • Closes on Monday 15th December 2025– 9am

    Voting:

    • Opens on Wednesday 17th December 2025 – 9am
    • Closes on Wednesday 21th January 2026– 9am

    Finalist will be announced on Wednesday 28th January 2026.
    Voting reopens for those categories – 4th February – 9am – closes again on the 18th March – 9am.

    (shortlisted businesses must submit their supporting information by 18th February)

    Judges decisions made by 18th March – 5pm.

    Can I nominate myself?

    Yes of course, there are two categories though that are up to the public only.

    Can I enter more than one award category?

    Yes, as long as you are eligible for an award category you can enter as many categories as you like.

    Is there a fee to enter the awards?

    No the awards can be entered for free. You must be able to attend the awards night on the 16th May 2026 though or have someone to respresent you. Tickets must be purchased for the night when finalists are annouced and are £75.

    I’d love to sponsor a specific award, how do I do this?

    This is great news! Please do send an email to awards@lotsfortots.co.uk with the details and we can send across prices and check availability.

    I’ve made it to the shortlist! What information do you need from my business and when will you need it?

    If you have been shortlisted then we will be in touch with you for further information needed for the judging. It will be a document which will need completing and sending back to awards@lotsfortots.co.uk. This document will then be shared with our judges.

    Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win?

    Yes, the awards ceremony will be a fun night to celebrate success. All winners will receive an award on the night with the option to make a speech so it’s definitely worth attending!  If there are unforeseen circumstances then you can nominate someone to represent you as long as this is before the guest list is finalised.

    My details are not listed correctly on the voting form?

    Please send an email to awards@lotsfortots.co.uk and we will get that changed for you.

    I have another question that isn't listed here?

    Please drop us an email to awards@lotsfortots.co.uk or drop us a message on social media.