The promoter of the Time + Space Award is The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, a registered charity with number 205846. Our registered office is at Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN2 2NA. You can contact us via email at time-and-space@nationaltrust.org.uk, or via phone at 0344 800 1895.

Entering the competition

To enter the Time + Space Award, you must complete the entry form. If you need the entry form in another format or have access needs, please email time-and-space@nationaltrust.org.uk.

There are four questions to choose from:

• Science – how can science be more accessible and relevant to everyone? 
• Art and culture – access to art and culture isn’t equal. How can your big idea address the imbalance?
• Society – what’s your big idea that would change society for the better, for everyone?
• Nature and climate – nature and climate are in crisis. How can your big idea save them and help us break out of the echo chamber?

Tell us about your idea in response to one of the above questions by submitting either a written submission between 200 and 2,000 words, a link to a video between 30 seconds and 10 minutes, or a link to an audio file between 30 seconds and 10 minutes. You can’t amend your entry once you’ve submitted it. If your entry is longer than the maximum words or time allowed, we’ll only read or listen to the words or time allowed. 

You may only submit one entry per set question, but you may submit an entry for more than one question. If you submit more than one entry for one question, both will be assessed and only the highest-scoring one will be valid. If you submit entries for multiple questions, you'll only have the chance to win one prize.  

You can enter the competition between 00:01 on 10 January 2024 and 23:59 on 30 April 2024. 

By submitting a completed entry form, you’re agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions. If you or your entry do not comply with the requirements of any of these terms, you may be disqualified.

The Time + Space Award is free to enter. No purchase of any kind is necessary to submit an entry.

We’re not responsible for entry forms that are incorrectly submitted or corrupted for any reason, including, for example, as a result of any equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind. If your entry form isn’t correctly submitted, you won’t be entered into the competition.  

Eligibility

Entrants must:

• Be an individual, not a company or a group of people
• Be aged 16–25 at the time of application
• Reside in the UK
• Be available to attend Woolsthorpe Manor and/or the other locations as set out below in the prize section
• Be able and willing to enter into and comply with the terms of this participation agreement
• Submit an entry form that contains an answer to one of the questions outlined in the application form. It needs to be at least 200 words or a 30 second video or audio file.  

You’re not eligible to enter the competition if you’re:

• An employee of the National Trust or anyone who lives in the household of someone who works at the National Trust
• A volunteer at the National Trust that’s involved in this project

If you’re aged between 16 and 18, we will need to obtain the permission of your parent, guardian or carer for you to enter this competition. If you’d like to speak to us about this, please get in touch at time-and-space@nationaltrust.org.uk.

The idea that you submit on your entry form must be your own original work. You can’t use content that you’ve previously created with another person or as part of a group. By submitting your entry, you warrant that your idea isn’t copied from or owned by someone else.  

Free gift 

Every entrant that submits a valid entry to the Time + Space Award shall receive a free day pass for two people valid until August 2024. These access passes are subject to the access pass term and conditions.

A valid entry is an entry made that complies with the terms set out in the eligibility section above.  

The prize 

The Time + Space Award gives four entrants (one for each question) the chance to win an award up to the equivalent value of £5,000, which will be a bespoke package consisting of the following:  

• Time at Woolsthorpe Manor on such dates as the winner is available, with members of the Woolsthorpe Manor team which will allow them to:
  • Have a private guided tour of the property 
  • Meet with the judge relevant to the question on their big idea
  • Have dedicated time to work on their big idea 
• The opportunity to showcase their big idea at Woolsthorpe Manor, dependent on the practicalities of the idea
• Provision of tools and resources to help the winner with their big idea up to the value of £1,000 per person. This list will be finalised with their respective panel member but could include additional visits, kits, additional mentoring and showreels
• The opportunity to spend time with one of the judges in a way of your choosing, this could be a call or a visit to somewhere you care about, for example
• The opportunity to work with an expert from the National Trust relevant to the submitted idea
• The opportunity to have mentoring around your big idea
• One-year free pass to National Trust places, valid from 30 June 2024 to 30 June 2025
• Book bundle featuring one book from each of the judges including:
  • Small Space Revolution: Planting Seeds of Change in Your Community by Tayshan Hayden-Smith 
  • An Atlas of Endangered Species by Megan McCubbin
  • The Sky at Night: The Art of Stargazing by Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock
  • The Cult of Progress by David Olusoga
• We'll cover all your travel and accommodation costs and out-of-pocket expenses. We'll also pay costs to support childcare, caring duties and loss of working hours.

If you’re under 18 at the time of attending any of the events, you must be accompanied by either a parent or guardian for any overnight stays. If that’s not possible, we’ll speak to you about providing a chaperone.

In order to receive the prizes described above, each winner will need to enter into a participation agreement with us. 

No cash or other alternative prizes are available. 

We'll arrange the dates to attend the properties and participate depending on your and our availability. The dates will be between June and December 2024. 

We might also invite winners to participate in further days between June 2024 and December 2024 (we‘ll notify you of specific dates in advance) for media and promotional opportunities. You won’t be obliged to attend on these additional days or take part in such media or promotional opportunities or any other publicity we may wish to ask you to take part in. 

We’ll do all we can to notify you of dates in advance. If for any reason we need to amend or postpone any of the dates, we’ll notify you as soon as reasonably possible and will work with you to arrange alternative dates.

The judging process

Firstly, submitted entry forms will be screened and any invalid entries will be rejected.

Then, an independent judge will review all the valid entries submitted between the opening date and the closing date (set out in term 3) and comply fully with these terms, to narrow them down to a long list of 100 applicants, 25 per category, using the following assessment criteria:

• How interesting is the idea? (0–5 points)
• How impactful the idea could be in the question category it relates to (0–5 points)
• How likely it is that the award will be able to help make the big idea more of a reality? (0–5 points)
• Whether the idea challenges the status quo (0–5 points)
• Likelihood the National Trust will be able to support the big idea in other ways (0–5 points)
• How much the award would mean personally to you and how much of an impact it would have on you (0–5 points)

The top 100 scoring entries will then be reviewed by at least two representatives of the National Trust, a representative from Woolsthorpe Manor, at least one person from the National Trust’s Young Person Steering Group, and an independent judge.

We'll combine the scores from these two steps and the top 15 scoring entries will be selected. Only one entry per individual can be included in the shortlist of 60. 

The shortlist of 60 entries will be judged by a final panel. The panel will include: four judges, at least two representatives of the National Trust and at least one independent judge with relevant expertise. Full names of the judging panel are available on request. 

The full panel will review the shortlist. Each panel member will review and score all 15 entries on the shortlist for their category. The panel will meet, either online or in person, and each panel member will discuss their top five scoring entries and recommend a winner. If someone from the panel is unable to meet, they’ll vote by proxy. If there is no clear winner, the independent judge and National Trust panel will have the deciding vote. We’ll invite the winners to enter into a participation agreement.

The panel will assess each entry for validity from 10 January 2024. The judging process shall take place between 10 January and 1 July 2024.

The four winners will be notified no later than 7 July 2024 by email to the email address they provided in their entry form. The selected winners will have seven calendar days to accept their prize and sign and return the participation agreement(s) which will be sent to them. If any of those winners don’t want to participate or don’t return the fully signed participation agreement within seven calendar days, their prize will be automatically forfeited and the next highest-scoring entrant for that question on the long list will be selected as a winner. The same process will apply to any replacement winner.

Legally, we must make available information that indicates that a valid award of the Time + Space Award took place. To comply with this obligation, we'll send the surname and county of each of the four winning entrants who accepted the Time + Space Award to anyone who emails time-and-space@nationaltrust.org.uk by 31 July 2024.

If you object to your surname and county being published, please contact us at the email address given above. In such circumstances, we must still provide this information and your entry if it is asked to do so by the Advertising Standards Authority.

General terms 

In running this competition, we’ll comply with our safeguarding policy.

We'll process your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy. 

All instructions on the entry form are a part of these terms and conditions. 

We reserve the right to hold, void, suspend, cancel, or amend this competition where it becomes necessary to do so.

These terms and conditions are governed by English law. If any entrants to this promotion wish to take court proceedings, then they must do this within the courts in the United Kingdom.

When can I apply? 

You can apply between 00:01 on 10 January 2024 and 23:59 on 30 April 2024.

Why have we chosen these four themes?

We've chosen them based on the story of a young Isaac Newton, his important, world-changing ideas, things we know are of interest to young people today and the ideas they've  told us they had during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The themes also relate to areas we have expertise in and that are part of our charitable objectives.

Science – Isaac Newton laid the groundwork for modern science and we know that some young people had scientific ideas during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Art and culture – we care for one of the world's largest and most significant collections of art and heritage objects. This collection, containing more than a million items, can help us learn about and understand the past. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, many young people had creative ideas they wanted to explore.

Society – Isaac Newton’s ideas changed the way society saw nature and religion. We know that some young people had ideas about society for the future during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Nature and climate – the work Newton did was known at the time as natural science or explaining nature’s laws. Nature and climate are a big focus of our strategy and we know many young people also care about them.

What kind of ideas are you looking for? 

Your big idea should be something that you know you could develop and push closer to reality with a Time + Space Award. The award should be enough to help you develop your idea further.

You’ll need to send us a tangible output of some kind but we’re open to what that is. It could be a prototype, an essay, a podcast, a community initiative, an art piece, an invention, some campaigning or something else.

What if I have a big idea that doesn’t relate to one of the four themes? 

Unfortunately, you can only enter with a big idea related to one of the four themes.

Who can apply for the Time + Space Award?

The application process is open to those aged 16–25 years old, living in the UK. All applicants must be aged between 16 and 25 years when applying for the Time + Space Award.

If you’re 15 years old at the time of the launch of the award (10 January 2024), but you'll be 16 before the closing date of the award 30 April 2024, you can apply.

If you’re 25 years old at the time of submitting your application, but you turn 26 before the close of the process or during any subsequent activity if you’re selected, that’s fine.

You can only apply if you are eligible based on the information in the terms and conditions. 

Can I apply with someone else? 

We’re only looking for individual applications. If you need help accessing or filling in the form, please email us at: time-and-space@nationaltrust.org.uk.

What if I want to apply more than once? 

You’re welcome to select more than one of the four categories to enter – you can enter all of them if you like. However, we can only accept one submission per person, per category and you’ll only be able to win one award, even if you enter multiple categories.  

Can I apply on behalf of someone else?

Individuals must apply by themselves, and not on behalf of someone else. If you need help accessing or filling in the form, please email us at: time-and-space@nationaltrust.org.uk.

What do I do if I have access needs?

You’ll need to submit your applications online via writing, audio or video. If you need help accessing or filling in the form or need to apply in an alternative format, please email us at: time-and-space@nationaltrust.org.uk.

What happens to my application if I’m unsuccessful? 

All applications and data relating to that application will be securely deleted within three months of the deadline passing. We advise you to save a copy of your application as we won’t be able to retrieve it after this time.

We’ll only be able to contact successful applicants. 

How will I find out who has won?   

We’ll contact the successful applicants in line with the terms and conditions. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to contact unsuccessful applicants individually. The winners will be available on this page.