• All nominations are to be submitted through the online submission, entries sent via email or PDF will not be accepted.
• Nominees may include individuals, teams, partnerships, or initiatives based in the UK for fire and rescue.
• Entries must demonstrate impact within the past 12 months (September 2025 – August 2026).
• Supporting evidence (e.g. testimonials, case studies, data) is encouraged but not mandatory, unless stated.
• Deadline for submissions: Friday 12 September 2026.
• Individuals may be nominated for more than one category, but separate nominations must be submitted.
• Past winner entries cannot be submitted again (only if it is significantly different or shows continued impact).
• Self-nominations are accepted with adequate supporting evidence or references.

• Nominees must be actively involved in fire prevention or related areas (e.g. home safety, road safety, safeguarding, water safety, or partnership initiatives), working for a UK FRS.
• All categories are open to cross-sector partnerships with fire and rescue services – volunteers are unfortunately not eligible.
• Celebrating Prevention Awards are not open to external partners or organisations. For the Partnership Working Award, a fire and rescue service must be included in this partnership.

Nominations must:

• Have had a demonstrable impact within the UK.
• Have been implemented or demonstrated impact within the last 12 months (since September 2025).
• Operated within the UK and contribute to national or community-level fire prevention and safety efforts.
• Nominees should demonstrate innovation, leadership, or best-practice approaches in their category of work.

Other considerations:

• Equity & Inclusion: Does the work address inequality or reach underserved communities?
• Leadership: Has the nominee demonstrated outstanding leadership or mentorship?
• Sustainability: Is the initiative designed for long-term impact or adaptation?

All nominations are now closed.

Inspiring ‘Safer Futures’ in our children and young people (CYP), this award recognises a team’s impactful work that empowers and protects young people through fire and intervention prevention education.

Judging Criteria:

• Innovation in engaging children and young people around fire safety.
• Supports the CYP network in delivering competency and development.
• Evidence of youth participation or co-design (tools or advice to support children and young people to be safe, healthy, resilient and active participants in their community).
• Knowledge and evidence of any engagement or intervention whether it be targeted or universal.

This award is for an individual who in Donna Crossman’s legacy, demonstrates outstanding commitment to youth safety, honouring exceptional dedication to improving fire safety and intervention prevention for children and young people, through positive impact. This could include any engagement or intervention whether it is targeted or universal (societal).

Judging Criteria:

• Long-standing commitment to CYP fire safety and wellbeing.
• Legacy of inspiring leadership or advocacy.
• Demonstrates impact on behaviour change or safety outcomes from their work (fewer incidents, increased awareness).
• Knowledge and evidence of any engagement or intervention whether it be targeted or universal.

Creating safer homes and safer communities, the excellence of efforts in this award, celebrates innovative and effective approaches to reducing fire risks in homes and educating its community to adopt safer behaviours though prevention activities – demonstrating a developed and evidence in evaluation.

Judging Criteria:

• Evidence of measurable reduction in home fire incidents or risks, through delivering effective, efficient, and targeted prevention activities.

• Demonstrate to deliver engagement and education to its community in adopting safer behaviours, through the use of innovative tools, data, or community engagement strategies, including increasing collaboration with partners.

• Demonstrate the development and evidence of evaluation, though ways of working, that have made a significant difference to prevention delivery in the community.

• Evidence work with FRSs and partners to champion the Online Home Fire Safety Check tool, NFCC products and related campaigns.

United in partnership excellence, this award honors outstanding multi-agency collaboration that advances national fire prevention goals in the community and champions fire prevention outcomes in the sector.

External applications can only be submitted for those who demonstrate and evidence partnership working with an FRS.

Judging Criteria:

• Demonstrate success through multi-agency collaboration, with clearly defined roles and shared goals between partners.
• Evidence that community improvement has been achieved, through sustainability and scalable outcomes. This includes evidence of Organisational Learning within the FRS.
• Deliver strong engagement and support at national, regional and local levels for co-design and support to FRS prevention functions.
• Develop and champion leadership and resources for prevention activities.

Recognising excellence in initiatives that reduce fire-related road incidents, promote safer driving behaviours and vehicle safety through education and leadership in the community. Demonstrates great contribution, support and commitment to advocate and enable the development of road safety prevention activities.

Judging Criteria:

• Evidence on reduction of incidents through delivering effective, efficient, and targeted prevention activities.
• Demonstrate the development and support in road risk reduction education and engagement, with clear evidence in making a difference to prevention delivery in the community, in adopting safer behaviours, including through partnerships with the transport, emergency, or education sectors.
• Alignment with national or regional road safety priorities.
• Evidence support of national Road Safety campaigns and encourage coordinated local delivery.

Recognising an individual or team that champions safeguarding, through initiatives that protect vulnerable individuals and their communities, through integrated fire safety and safeguarding work. Demonstrating great contribution to advocate and safer safeguarding practices at a local and national level.

Judging Criteria:

• Evidence of meaningful outcomes that have improved safety and wellbeing for vulnerable people.
• Demonstrates efficient and effective safeguarding practices to safeguard the community, people and organisation.
• Champions safeguarding within their service and/or the wider sector on a local and/or national level.
• Introduction of creative solutions to safeguarding challenges, through strong partnership working across agencies, sectors, or teams.

Excellence in delivering effective, efficient, and targeted prevention activities in water safety. Celebrating innovative programs that integrate fire prevention with water safety for holistic community protection, to reduce risk and save lives, through education to adopt safer behaviours.

Judging Criteria:

• Demonstrates and measurable-evidence a proactive approach to reducing water-related incidents through effective, efficient, and targeted prevention strategies.
• Evidence of delivering impactful water safety education and engagement that promotes safer behaviours within the community.
• Demonstrates support for national Be Water Aware campaign and coordination with wider sector efforts, including adoption of national toolkits and initiatives. At a local level, evidences strong collaboration with local or national water safety organisations, emergency services, or rescue agencies.
• Evidence of supporting and aligning with the UK Drowning Prevention Strategy to reduce the number of accidental drownings and other national water safety priorities.