{"id":126862,"date":"2026-10-12T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=126862"},"modified":"2026-10-12T11:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:52:57","slug":"nationwides-100000-giveaway-is-closing-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/nationwides-100000-giveaway-is-closing-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationwide\u2019s \u00a3100,000 Giveaway Is Closing Soon, and Many Could Miss Out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now in its fourth year, the programme recognises towns working to strengthen their high streets, support independent businesses and bring residents together. According to the Mirror, the competition is open to communities across the UK, although applications <\/strong>must be submitted through designated local representatives rather than individual residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five \u00a320,000 Awards Will Recognise Community Achievements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Let’s Celebrate Towns programme<\/a> will award \u00a320,000 to the winner of each of five categories<\/strong>, reflecting different aspects of local development and community involvement. The categories are High Street Revival, Backing Local Business, Protecting Valued Places, Connected Places and Community Pride. Each focuses on efforts already being made to improve towns and support the people who live and work in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judges are looking for innovative projects <\/strong>that have helped revitalise shopping streets, protected valued local landmarks or encouraged stronger connections between residents. Initiatives supporting local businesses and demonstrating community pride are also among the achievements being considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Mirror<\/a>, Nationwide and Visa are seeking to highlight communities where businesses, local organisations and residents are contributing to the development of their towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Cameron, Visa’s Group Country Manager for the UK and Ireland, described the role of towns in supporting both local communities and the wider economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our towns and high streets are the beating heart of our communities and our economy<\/em>,” he said. Cameron added that the organisers had been inspired by businesses, community groups and councils since the competition began. He encouraged towns to share their experiences<\/strong>, whether through successful high streets, new local initiatives or collective community efforts. “Growth starts at home, and we are proud to be shining a light on it alongside Nationwide<\/em>,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Who Can Apply and When Entries Must Be Submitted<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although the competition is designed to benefit communities, individual residents cannot submit applications directly. Instead, entries must be made on a town’s behalf by an MP’s office, a local councillor, a member of the local authority or a Business Improvement District (BID<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The application process takes only minutes to complete. The closing deadline is 11.59pm on Sunday, 25 October, after which entries will no longer be accepted. According to the Mirror, Nationwide has reminded communities that there is still time to enter the competition and put forward examples of local achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mandy Beech<\/strong>, Nationwide’s Group Director of Retail Services, said the programme <\/a>reflects the building society’s commitment to supporting British high streets through its Branch Promise. “Every town that enters Let’s Celebrate Towns is already doing something worth celebrating<\/em>,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beech welcomed the communities that have already come forward to describe what makes their towns distinctive. She also encouraged further applications from places supporting local businesses, protecting valued locations or demonstrating community pride. “There is still time to take part,” she said, inviting towns with stories to share to submit their entries before the 25 October deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nationwide Building Society and Visa are offering five \u00a320,000 awards to UK towns through their Let’s Celebrate Towns 2026 competition. Communities have until 11.59pm on Sunday, 25 October, to submit their entries, with the money intended to support local projects and initiatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":126864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126862"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126865,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126862\/revisions\/126865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}