Terms and Conditions for the NCS WRITERS’ CLUB 2023 COMPETITION
1. THE PROMOTER
The promoter is the National Citizen Service Trust whose main correspondence address at the time of this competition is, 1st Floor, 48 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1JF (the “Promoter”)
2. THE COMPETITION
2.1 The title of the competition is the “WRITERS’ CLUB 2023 COMPETITION” (the “competition”).
2.2 This is a free competition for people aged 15 to 25 (inclusive). The Promoter will judge all valid competition entries (described in more detail in paragraph 3.3 below) and select up to 15 of the best entrants, in its sole opinion, to win the prizes described in paragraph 5 below.
3. HOW TO ENTER
3.1 The competition will run from 05 October 2023 (the “Opening Date”) to 25 October 2023 (the “Closing Date”) inclusive.
3.2 All competition entries must be received by the Promoter via the NCS website no later than 23:59 on the Closing Date. All competition entries received after the Closing Date will be automatically disqualified.
3.3 To enter the competition validly you must:
(a) Be aged between 15 and 25 years old (inclusive), and live in England, on the Closing Date;
(b) Complete the entry form on the Promoter’s website fully - [https://wearencs.com/blog/writers-club-2023-competition] and agree to produce written content — during 2023 and 2024 — for the Promoter if you win the competition;
(c) Write a blog piece (of between 500 and 1000 words) based on one of the themes listed on the competition page;
(d) Upload your pitch on the competition page as a Word or PDF document;
(e) Ensure your content is original to you, has not previously been published anywhere else, and does not include any blasphemy, defamation, or otherwise offensive material. The blog piece that you submit must not include any real names or other personally identifiable information (such as an individual’s date of birth or home address etc) — this is to protect the entrant’s and others’ identity and confidentiality.
3.4 For the avoidance of doubt, no purchase is necessary and there is no charge to register for use of the Promoter’s website or to submit your entry.
3.5 The Promoter will not accept:
(a) Responsibility for competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit, regardless of cause, including, for example, as a result of any postal failure, equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind; or
(b) Proof of posting or transmission as proof of receipt of entry to the competition.
3.6 By submitting a competition entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.
3.7 The competition entries will be judged by a panel of judges made up of NCS staff in the Social Media, Marketing, or Creative Team. The decision of the panel of judges (acting reasonably) will be final and no feedback will be provided regarding the judging of the entries or selection of the winners.
3.8 The Promoter will send the names of the winners to anyone who writes to the address set out in paragraph 1, and who encloses a self-addressed envelope, within one month of the Closing Date of the competition, requesting details of the winners.
4. ELIGIBILITY
4.1 This competition is only open to those aged between 15 and 25 years old (inclusive) who live in England and who are NOT:
(a) employees of the Promoter; or
(b) employees of agents or suppliers of the Promoter, or who are professionally connected with the competition or its administration.
4.2 By entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible for any prize you may win. The Promoter may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition.
4.3 The Promoter will not accept competition entries that are:
(a) automatically generated by computer or AI;
(b) completed by third parties or in bulk;
(c) illegible, have been altered, reconstructed, forged or tampered with;
(d) photocopies and not originals and/or have already been published elsewhere;
(e) offensive (in the Promoter’s opinion at its sole discretion); or
(f) incomplete.
4.4 There is a limit of one entry per person. Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted and joint submissions are not allowed.
4.5 The Promoter reserves all rights to disqualify you and your competition entries if your conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the prize competition.
4.6 Competition entries cannot be returned.
5. THE PRIZE
5.1 Each winner will:
(a) have selected pieces of their writing (which comply with these terms) — as well as any other suitable pieces of writing created and submitted to the Promoter as part of the Writers’ Club — published on the Promoter’s website and social media platforms.;
(b) have the opportunity to attend up to 6 online writing workshops (at times to be specified by the Promoter);
(c) have the opportunity to attend a maximum of three online one-to-one mentoring sessions with members of the NCS Social Media, Marketing, or Creative Team, during the period up to the end of February 2024.
5.2 These prizes do not include the cost of transfers to and/or from airports or railway stations, travel insurance, accommodation, food and/or drink, spending money, taxi or any personal expenses. Any other costs incurred in addition to those set out above and that are incidental to the fulfillment of the prize(s) are the sole responsibility of the winner(s).
5.3 The Promoter reserves the right to substitute a prize or prizes, in its discretion, of equal or greater value for the prizes listed above.
5.4 In order to claim the prize(s) you must respond to any email from the Promoter announcing that you have won the competition, and provide any further details that the Promoter reasonably requests within 5 working days of receiving their email.
6. WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT
6.1 Winners of the competition will be contacted on or before 31st October 2023.
6.2 The decision of the Promoter is final and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into.
6.3 The Promoter will contact the winners personally as soon as possible after the Announcement Date, using the telephone number or email address provided with their competition entry.
7. CLAIMING THE PRIZE
7.1 The Promoter will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winners. If a winner has not responded to the Promoter’s email announcing that they have won the competition within 5 working days of the email being sent, the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to the next eligible entrant selected from the entries that were received before the Closing Date.
7.2 The Promoter does not accept any responsibility if you are not able to take up the prize.
8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Subject to any restrictions implied by applicable law, the Promoter shall not be responsible for compensating the winner or accepting any liability for any loss or damage occurring as a result of the winner using or otherwise taking up their prize.
9. OWNERSHIP OF COMPETITION ENTRIES AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
9.1 All competition entries and any accompanying material submitted to the Promoter will become the property of the Promoter on receipt.
9.2 By submitting your competition entry and any accompanying or subsequent material submitted as part of the Writers’ Club, you hereby:
(a) grant an irrevocable, exclusive, worldwide, licence (for no additional payment) to the Promoter over all of your intellectual property rights, including, without limitation, copyright, in such competition entries and any accompanying or subsequent material submitted as part of the Writers’ Club for as long as any such rights continue to exist in such material;
(b) Waive all moral rights, in and to your competition entry and any accompanying and subsequent material submitted as part of the Writers’ Club and otherwise arising in connection with your entry to which you may now or at any time in the future be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended from time to time and under all similar legislation from time to time in force anywhere in the world.
9.3 You agree that the Promoter may, but is not required to, make your entry (and any accompanying or subsequent material submitted as part of the Writers’ Club) available on its website wearencs.com and any other media or platform, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity related to the competition and/or the Writers Club. You further confirm that the Promoter may use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence the competition entry and any accompanying or subsequent materials submitted as part of the Writers’ Club, without any payment or restriction.
10. DATA PROTECTION AND PUBLICITY
10.1 The Promoter will only process your personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy which can be found here: https://wearencs.com/privacy-policy
11. GENERAL
11.1 If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, exclude you from participating in the competition.
11.2 The Promoter reserves the right to void, suspend, cancel, or amend the prize competition where it becomes necessary to do so.
11.3 These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
