Exceptional People in Care (EPIC) Awards

What are the Exceptional People in Care (EPIC) Awards?

The next award ceremonies will be in March 2027 (North of the county - Venue TBC) and October 2027 (Littlehampton). Dates are to be confirmed.

The Exceptional People in Care Awards are a chance to recognise the talents, achievements and skills of the young people in care, kinship care, care leavers and the adults who work with them.

This is the place to recognise the individual triumph and talents that deserve to be recognised and celebrated.

What is the event like?

From 2025, there will be multiple events each year, so we can celebrate achievements all year round! These events will have up to 100 people attending, and will have a range of activities to take part in.

Who can be nominated?

Any of the young people in care and kinship care, care leavers, and adults who support with them. There are multiple awards that you can nominate some for, and you can nominate more than one person.

All young people must be between the ages of 5 and 25 years old.

What are the categories?

Big Thinker - We’re looking for you to nominate those who have really tried or succeeded in academic achievement, improved their attendance, have improved their behaviour over time, applied themselves to work, or getting a place at college or university.

Big Talent - This category is for young people who have showed talent and achievement eg; sporting activities, performing arts, music or visual arts, or something where their talent is recognised.

Big Heart - We want to hear from young people with big hearts eg; how they have helped others, how they have demonstrated leadership, teamwork skills, playground buddying, mentoring, volunteering, making a positive contribution in their community or caring for others.

Big Strength - We also want you to nominate those who have been brave, overcome a challenge or challenging times, or faced their fears. This may encompass any other circumstances including illness, disability and personal challenge. It includes those who have shown enormous resilience.

Carer Recognition Award, Kinship Carer (Connected Carer) or Foster Sibling - We want to hear about those foster carers, kinship carers, or foster siblings who have been there for you or someone else, those who have helped you.

Supporting Adult Recognition - We want to hear about those people who have supported you, it might be a family friend, a teacher, a librarian, or someone else!

How do I nominate someone?

Scroll down this page and you'll find the nominations section. Complete the survey for the nomination you want to make. Be sure to complete with as much information as you can.

When do nominations close?

You can make a nomination at any time. Our new plan to celebrate young people means their achievements will be recognised throughout the year.

How can I support the events?

We have many ways in which you can support our events. Whether it be volunteering at the event, providing items for the goody bags, or sponsoring the event, we would be happy to hear from you! Please email us at epic@westsussex.gov.uk.

To find out more about sponsorship opportunities, take a look at our website page: yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk/epic-sponsorship.

If I have a question, how can I get in touch?

Just contact our team on:

Alternate Formats

If you require any of the information in an alternative format, then please contact us via email at toby.wilson@westsussex.gov.uk or by telephone on 0330 222 3314 and we will do our best to assist you. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 0330 222 3314.

Please note, you can use the Google Translate function to access this project in a range of different languages. The Google Translate widget can be found at the top left-hand side of the project page, where it sits just above the black West Sussex County Council ribbon.

For more information about the accessibility of this website, please read the Your Voice Engagement Hub Accessibility Statement (opens in new window).

Data Protection/Privacy Notice

The Voice and Participation team will use this questionnaire to collect personal and special category data the processing of which is necessary to enable us to be compliant with the law (general well-being duties), and for reasons of substantial public interest. The data will be processed in accordance with the 2018 Data Protection Act, the General Data Protection Regulations, and any subsequent data protection legislation. The data we collect be securely stored and kept for period of up to 2 years before being appropriately destroyed. The data we will collect will not be used for any other purpose than that stated above without your prior written consent. West Sussex County Council is registered as Data Controller (Reg. No. Z6413427). For further details and information about our Data Controller, please see www.westsussex.gov.uk/privacy-policy.