Apply for an Award

• Any organisation making an application must have a significant presence in London.
• With the exception of the Lord Mayor’s Award, all categories focus on work carried out in Greater London. If you are describing a national project with a London element, make sure the London part is clearly identified, quantified and described fully. Only give as much detail about the wider project as is necessary to set the context.
• Applications encouraged from organisations that work with a number of different community partners, and from organisations that have chosen to invest in one partner.
• If your initiative is part of a wider programme with other organisations, you must focus on the impact your business has made specifically rather than the programme as a whole.
• Applications from small and medium-sized organisations (SMEs) are encouraged.
• The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards recognise and celebrate organisations going beyond their core business product or service to have a social impact. Applications will be disqualified if the initiative described is judged to form part or an extension of the organisation’s core commercial and/or delivery activities or if activities are part of any legal obligation. For example, businesses required to engage with communities as part of their Section 106 obligations will need to demonstrate how their community contributions significantly exceed their legal requirements in order to be eligible.
• The same initiative cannot be submitted in more than one category and and only one application can be made per initiative. All partners involved in the same initiative must decide which category it best fits into and submit one application to that category only. There is no limit to the number of applications each organisation may submit provided the initiatives detailed are different.
• Corporate charitable foundations should apply in the business facing categories only.
• In order to score highly, you will need to be able to demonstrate the impact of your initiative to your business, your beneficiaries and wider society.
• Any initiative you apply with must still be running at the time applications open.

• If your initiative was shortlisted in 2022 you can apply again with the same initiative (or another) in any category, however the judges will be looking for ways in which your initiative has developed over the past year.
• If your initiative won an award in (2022), it should not be entered in any category for three years following receiving the award. For example, any initiative that won in 2022 should not be entered again until 2026 (i.e. ineligible for 2023, 2024 and 2025).  When submitting in following years the initiative should have had substantial changes made to it since winning the award. You may apply with a different initiative to this year’s Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards.

Entries received after applications close will not be processed.

The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards are open to businesses of all size and sector that are achieving excellence in social impact.

Before Deciding Whether to Apply Please Read the Following Conditions:

The following does not apply to the Lord Mayor’s Award category. Please see separate conditions below.

1. Any organisation making an application must have a significant presence in London.
2. With the exception of the Lord Mayor’s Award, all categories focus on work carried out in Greater London. If you are describing a national project with a London element, make sure the London part is clearly identified, quantified and described fully. Only give as much detail about the wider project as is necessary to set the context.
3. The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards recognise and celebrate organisations going beyond their core business product or service to have a social impact. Applications will be disqualified if the initiative described is judged to form part or an extension of the organisation’s core commercial and/or delivery activities or if activities are part of any legal obligation. For example, businesses required to engage with communities as part of their Section 106 obligations will need to demonstrate how their community contributions significantly exceed their legal requirements in order to be eligible.
4. The same initiative cannot be submitted in more than one category and and only one application can be made per initiative. All partners involved in the same initiative must decide which category it best fits into and submit one application to that category only. There is no limit to the number of applications each organisation may submit provided the initiatives detailed are different.
5. Corporate charitable foundations should contact us to discuss whether or not you are eligible to apply. If eligible you are welcome to apply in the business facing categories only.
6. In order to score highly, you will need to be able to demonstrate the impact of your initiative to your business, your beneficiaries and wider society.
7. The judging panels reserve the right to transfer applications to a different category if they believe them to have been incorrectly assigned.

Previous Applicants:

1. If your initiative was shortlisted in 2022 you can apply again with the same initiative (or another) in any category, however the judges will be looking for ways in which your initiative has developed over the past year.
2. If your initiative won an award in (2022), it should not be entered in any category for three years following receiving the award. For example, any initiative that won in 2022 should not be entered again until 2026 (i.e. ineligible for 2023, 2024 and 2025).  When submitting in following years the initiative should have had substantial changes made to it since winning the award. You may apply with a different initiative to this year’s Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards.

Use in Promotion of the Awards:

1.  Your responses to the questions may be used on the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards website, Twitter feed, and for press releases. Any photographic material you provide may also be used on the website or to promote the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards or other City Corporation work, unless otherwise specified. However, this material will not be considered by the judges.