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Sussex Day Photo Competition

group of people sitting in a circle on chairs playing instruments

Celebrating our vibrant voluntary sector in Sussex.

 

Following the success of last year, entries are now open for our second photo competition celebrating Sussex’s vibrant voluntary sector of inspirational charities and community groups.

In what continues to be a challenging and uncertain time for many Sussex communities, we have seen how our local charities and community groups have yet again stepped up, taken action and continued to support our most vulnerable. This Sussex Day (Monday 16 June), we want to continue to celebrate the amazing people, activities and places that are at the heart of our community with our second photo competition.

Photo entries are to be made under each of our four funding priorities, which you can find out more about here. There will be one winner per funding priority and each will receive a £100 donation to their charity or community group.

Our funding priorities are:

  • Tackling Poverty - Reducing poverty and disadvantage in our communities.
  •  Improving Health - Helping people live longer, better lives.
  •  Reaching Potential - Providing life-changing skills, education and training.
  • Acting on Climate - Taking local action for the climate.

The final decision will be made by our judging panel. The winning photos will be promoted to celebrate Sussex Day on Monday 16 June 2025. The four winners will receive a donation to support the work of their community group and we aim to feature as many photos as possible in the next year throughout our communications, including printed materials such as our Annual Report.

The deadline for submission is 5pm on Friday 6 June 2025.

Show us the difference your group is making - and help us celebrate Sussex at its best!

How to enter.

If you are a local charity or community group and have received funding from the Foundation in the last three years, we would love to receive images showing examples of your inspirational work.

The entry criteria are:

  • Photos must capture moments of connection and activity - people doing things together.
  • Photos must be taken in Sussex.
  • Photos must be taken within the last year.
  • Entrants/those in the photos must live in Sussex and you must seek explicit permission from everyone shown in the images, especially if including volunteers or beneficiaries.
  • Photos must be in good quality digital format (300 dpi or greater).
  • Your organisation must have been funded by Sussex Community Foundation within the last three years.

A maximum of five photos can be submitted per organisation. Before submitting an entry, make sure you have read our tips & hints and the competition terms and conditions below, including information on how entries may be used by the Foundation for publicity and promotional work.

Submit your entries to us via email together with your completed entry form, which can be downloaded here.

Submit your entries

Tips & hints for sharing photos.

We love to see photographs that hero the people who work with us. Read our hints & tips for the best chance of winning below:

  • Photos must be in good quality digital format (300 dpi or greater). Read how to find out your photo’s DPI here.
  • Please supply images in the highest quality (usually the biggest file size) possible. The file size per photo must be at least 1MB. We recommend sending files as JPEG or PNG. Please do not send us photos in a Word Document or PDF.
  • Composition: we are looking for moments of connection or people doing things together. Shots that have a sense of common humanity and spark an emotional response. We want to see the power of community - people from all walks of life coming together to create the change Sussex needs.
  • Avoid overly posed shots if possible. Capturing people behaving naturally rather than in a formulaic positioning eg team line up.
  • Look for images that are shot in natural light.
  • A maximum of five photos can be submitted and these should be varied in what they are showing (ie not the same photo multiple times with slight changes). If more than five are submitted, we will only review the first five.
  • Portrait or landscape (or square) images are all acceptable but please don’t crop images or put them in shapes.
  • We particularly like photographs of projects the Foundation has funded as well as more general shots of work done by the organisation.
  • Make sure that everyone in the photograph has given their consent, especially beneficiaries, and in the case of children their parent/guardian has done so.

Terms and conditions

  1. To enter this competition, you must be the author of the image(s) and own the copyright. Sussex Community Foundation accepts no liability if an image is unlawfully reproduced.
  2. Entries must be submitted on behalf of a community group, charity, CIC or social enterprise funded by Sussex Community Foundation within the last three years.
  3. Entrants must ensure that everyone featured in the photograph has given their consent to be included and used for the purpose of the competition and by Sussex Community Foundation as described below. By submitting your photograph, you are confirming you have the required permission.
  4. Entrants will retain the copyright of their image(s) but in entering the competition they agree to allow Sussex Community Foundation to reproduce, enlarge, publish, exhibit (print and digital) their image(s) in any future promotional or charity literature. Images submitted may also be featured in the local press.
  5. The winners will be notified directly and will be featured on Sussex Community Foundation’s website, social media sites and in e-newsletters.
  6. Payments can only be made to a charity or community group bank account.
  7. Sussex Community Foundation’s decision on the winning entry is final, and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging and competition organisation.
  8. By entering the competition, you agree to Sussex Community Foundation using your details to process your entry. Your details will not be used for marketing purposes.

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