Submission guidelines
Terms & Privacy
01 Submissions are open to anyone aged 18 or over, normally resident in the UK.
02 The deadline for poem submissions is Friday, 26 September 2025. Submissions received after this date will not be considered.
03 Indicate your name or initials to attribute as the author, or whether you wish to write anonymously.
04 Poetry theme: Decolonising Minds and Shared Identities. At Civil Society Consulting, we have produced a manual that provides 32 practical steps which we can take in our lives to build connections.
05 The poem should be up to 40 lines in length.
06 Send us your poem in your own preferred language. If you send it in a different language than English, please provide a translation.
07 Submit via this page or via email to mark@civilsocietyconsulting.co.uk, either inserting your text within the email body or as an attachment. Entries are free but encouraged to make a donation via CSC Local Giving page.
08 Submissions may be accompanied by an optional related image attached to the submission email. Images must either be the participant’s own, or have permission granted for use or be free-to-use commercially. If participants do not wish to provide an associated image, the organiser may choose something appropriate or present the text without an image.
09 Poems that use words, terms or phrases that are considered offensive, obscene, abusive, intolerant, sexist, racist or LGTBI-phobic won’t be accepted in the challenge.
10 The judging panel will conclude which poems most fittingly respond to the Togetherness theme and award six prizes: one prize for £500 and five prizes of £100 each.
The organiser, Civil Society Consuling CIC, is a not-for-profit that works to support, catalyse and energise civil society organisations by being a reliable source of excellent support, at low - or no cost. We believe civil society organisations are the key to health, equality and social solidarity.
The Challenge is run on a low cost basis funded by the National Lottery’s Bringing People Together grant programme – and also relies on the kind input of volunteers – so our capacity is limited.
Your name and email address will be used solely for the purpose of poetry collection and communication by the organisers and will not be shared with any other party.
By submitting content (poetry and any associated image), participants agree to the right of the organisers to publish it online and/or in hard copy form on a non-exclusive, royalty-free basis. You still own the copyright on your content and are not transferring that to the organisers.
The organisers reserve the right to not publish a submission text and/or image or to remove a previously published submission.
For further information, contact us through the organiser's Contact page on Civil Society Consulting’s website.