Sports Unsung Hero - Terms & Conditions

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero 2009 will be named during a live awards show on Sunday 13 December (1900 GMT, BBC One).

Terms and Conditions:

1. Any UK resident (incl. Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) aged 16 or over, as from 1 January 2009, is eligible to be nominated, except previous winners of the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Awards, BBC employees and any person connected to the awards competition and their close relatives. Proof of age, identity and eligibility may be requested.

2. The criteria to qualify for nomination is that the nominee must: (i) be an individual, (ii) assist/help amateurs participate in a sports activity, (iii) offer assistance/help that does not form part of their job or take place at their place of work, (iv) assist/help voluntarily with no financial reward, and (v) not be an active participant in the sports team/organisation/club being assisted.

3. Nominations can be made by accessing www.bbc.co.uk/sportsunsunghero and/or the relevant regional web pages from Monday 14th September 2009 and must be received no later than Friday 30th October 2009.

4. A regional BBC organiser/representative in each of the 12 English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will shortlist no more than 10 nominees in their respective regions. The short-listing criteria will be (i) their contribution at grassroots level of their sport, (ii) the range and number of people helped, (iii) the impact on their local community, and (iv) the personal sacrifices or commitment made.

The 15 regional winners will be put forward for, and become eligible for, the overall BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award.

5. A regional judging panel consisting of both BBC and non-BBC judges will then select a regional BBC Sports Unsung Hero winner, from those shortlisted, based on the criteria above.

6. A national judging panel will select an overall winner and 2 runners up from the 15 regional winner based on the aforementioned criteria, any supporting literature and a short BBC film on each of the regional winners. The panel will consist of leading sports figures, representatives from BBC and a previous BBC Sports Unsung Hero winner.

7. The winner will be announced on Sunday 13th December 2009 on BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2009 on BBC ONE.

8. The BBC's decision as to the winner is final. No correspondence relating to the awards will be entered.

9. The regional winners will each receive a regional BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award 2009 and the national winner will receive the national BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award 2009. There are no prizes, no cash alternative and the award cannot be sold or transferred in any circumstances.

10. Nominees must agree to take part in any post-award publicity if required.

11. The BBC reserves the right to:

(i) vary the opening times of the awards;

(ii) disqualify any nominee who breaches the rules or has acted fraudulently in any way; and (iii) cancel the awards, at any stage, if in its opinion it is deemed necessary or if circumstances arise outside its control.

12. The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem which may result in any nomination not properly registered.

13. The BBC will only use personal details for the purposes of administering this award and will not publish or provide them to anyone without permission. You can read more about the BBC Privacy Policy on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy

14. This BBC Sports Unsung Hero Awards accords with the BBC's Code of Conduct for Competitions and Voting, details of which can be found on the BBC'S Standards and Guidelines website.

15. The promoter of the awards is the British Broadcasting Corporation and the applicable law is the laws of either England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, dependent on the area of the United Kingdom covered.

16. Nominees will be deemed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them.