Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions – Service Awards 2019

 

Where will the Service Awards Dinner take place?

The Service Awards will take place at the Newcastle Civic Centre, 1 Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne And Wear, NE99 1RD on Thursday 12 September. Click here to download directions. 

 

Can I attend the Service Awards Dinner if I do not attend the APSE seminar?

Priority dinner spaces will be given to those attending the seminar as delegates. Click here for seminar delegate booking information. We will however do our best to accommodate those finalists who are only available to attend the dinner.

 

How will I know my dinner booking has been received safely?

You should receive an email within 10 working days, letting you know of the safe receipt of your booking request. 

If you do not hear from us within this time scale please contact Laura McNab on [email protected] or 01698 459 051.

 

How will I know my dinner booking has been confirmed?

Please note dinner-only bookings are subject to availability.  Your booking request should be made by no later than Thursday 15th of August and confirmation will then follow up to 5 working days after this date has passed. 

Delegates are guaranteed a place at the dinner. Click here to book your place as a delegate. 

If you do not hear from us within this time scale please contact Laura McNab on [email protected] or 01698 459 051.

 

What time do the awards start/finish?

The dinner commences with pre-dinner drinks welcome at 7.00 PM. You will be asked to take your seats ready for dinner to be served at 7.30 prompt. The awards ceremony will take place at around 9.30 PM.

The awards ceremony will end at approx 11.00 PM with the event closing at 12.00 AM.

 

What is the dress code?

The dress code is evening wear / lounge suits.  This is not a black tie event.

 

What if I have any dietary requirements?

If you have any special dietary requirements such as vegetarian, vegan, coeliac or any allergies please just note this on your booking form next to the guest’s name.

 

What if I have any access requirements?

If you or one of your guests has a disabled access requirement, please let us know in advance by highlighting within the special requirements box of the booking form.  The venue has full disabled access but we would like to make your experience as pleasant as possible.

 

Can we book accommodation through APSE to stay over in Newcastle?

Unfortunately we are unable to book rooms for those delegates only attending the service awards dinner. Those attending the full seminar will have the opportunity to book accommodation packages for two or three nights at the specified APSE hotels. We occasionally have some rooms that we can offer for Thursday night only, once all our seminar delegates have been allocated their accommodation. You can go on a waiting list should these rooms become available by emailing [email protected] 

There is a vast array of hotels within the area to suit all budgets.  Some good websites to use are laterooms, booking.com and trivago.

 

What if a colleague is already attending the dinner as a seminar delegate or our submission is between one or more councils, can we sit together?

 Yes of course. If you let us know the names of any colleagues that are already booked to attend on the booking form online we will make sure you are able to sit on the same table.

The same applies if you have submitted a joint submission with another authority.   Please put a note of this on your booking form and we will do our best to seat you together.

 

What do we do if we have a name change for our dinner delegates?

If a colleague is unable to attend or you want to swap a delegate name please email Laura McNab ([email protected]) with details about your name change and we will amend the table plan and our guest list. Please do not forget to tell us about any changes to dietary requirements. 

Please advise us of any changes no later than 12.00 noon on Friday 6 September 2019.   

If you have a late change of delegate after this date it is still okay for them to attend on the night in place of the original delegate. Please just advise them to sit in the place allocated to the original delegate on the table / dinner plan.

     

Can we have a memento of our achievements?      

Yes! These awards are about celebrating our unsung heroes in local public services. Every finalist whether you win or not will have the opportunity to have your photograph taken with your finalists’ certificate with our event photographer and guest presenter.  This will be at the end of the awards ceremony and councils will be called out in alphabetical order on our big screen.  

The lucky winners will also be recorded on video receiving their award in stage. The award winners video file and images will be downloadable shortly after the event on the APSE website. Images of finalists will be available free of charge on request after the event. You are free to use any of the videos or photographs for your organisations use or for local media. You can contact Matthew Ellis post event on [email protected]

 

 Will we know if we have won our award before the dinner?

No! This would spoil it wouldn’t it? The award finalists are all scheduled for review by an expert panel on the day of the awards. Winners will be announced on the stage at the Service Awards Dinner.

 

What happens if we win?  

When your category is announced at the dinner listen out for your council. If you are a winner you will be called to the stage to collect your winner’s trophy and certificate. We unfortunately do not allow acceptance speeches – even really good ones with Oscars style tears! But you will be videoed and photographed so you can share your wonderful achievement.

 

Celebrating best practice

After the service awards we will share a synopsis of your winning submissions with APSE member councils. This will be a downloadable booklet on the APSE website.

 

What if my authority can not attend the Awards?

Please complete and return the booking form, ticking the box to let us know that no one will be attending.  APSE will arrange for any certificates/trophies to be collected on your behalf and these will be posted on to you after the event.

 

What is APSE’s cancellation policy?

We understand that sometimes things come up and sometimes bookings need to be changed.  Please see the APSE cancellation policy below.

Cancellation and refund policy:

Reservation is a contract. Substitution of delegates is acceptable any time in writing by email to [email protected]. Cancellations must be made in writing at least 10 working days before the event, and will incur a 20% administration fee. In the unlikely event of cancellation by the organisers, liability will be restricted to the refund of fees paid. The organisers reserve the right to make changes to the programme, speakers or venue should this become necessary.

 

Social media / GDPR

When you book to attend the awards or the APSE seminar and awards dinner you will be asked to confirm your consent to APSE adding you to our database. This will allow APSE to contact you to process your booking. We also ask you to note that images from the event will be used on the APSE website and social media so if you do object to this please tell us in advance. We would love you to join in the conversation on the night so please do follow @apseevents and @apsenews and use the hashtag #APSE19