Meet the five book-obsessed young people who won £250/€250 National Book Tokens
Books are vital for school and university, but thousands of young people don't just read books because they have to – they read books because they love them.
That's why we gave you the chance to nominate someone aged 16 to 24 to receive £250/€250 to spend on new books of their choice from the bookshops they love!
Just announced, the lucky winners are...
- Ellen, 17 from London, who loves reading true crime and plans to study criminology at university next year alongside studying for her ballet exams.
- Luc, 16 from Bristol, who has passion for reading, despite the challenges posed by his dyslexia. He loves graphic novels, from Alex Rider to classic TinTin stories, as well as football biographies.
- Anna, 19 from West Sussex, who loves fantasy, history, and mystery books, including Lord of the Rings (Tolkien is her all-time favourite author) and Treasure Island.
- William, 22 from Wiltshire, who loves to read for fun in between studying for his Master's degree and pursuing an environmental career.
- Catherine, 23 from Staffordshire, who adores sci-fi and fantasy (her current favourite authors are Samantha Shannon and Becky Chambers), and loves book-shopping at Waterstones, Bookshop.org, and Drop City Books. She will graduate soon with a Master's degree in child psychology.
Congratulations to all of our winners, who we're sure will have a brilliant time spending their National Book Tokens!
"It's a huge prize to win and I didn't expect it! It means that I can expand my reading list and explore other genres, such as romance or drama." Anna, one of this year's winners
Why National Book Tokens?
Whether they love to read fantasy novels or Victorian literature, or need books to write an important essay or to cook a delicious veggie recipe, National Book Tokens empower young people to choose just the right books for them.
- There's a book token for every young person – and they're more likely to read when they've chosen the book themselves.
- All our gift cards can be added to a mobile wallet – their National Book Token will be with them wherever they go (and can even be spent online with their favourite bookshops).
- National Book Tokens are printed on sustainable FSC-certified board instead of plastic*.
- We support local bookshops across the UK and Ireland and encourage reading for pleasure for everyone.
- Plus, our gift cards remain active for 8 years (and we replace inactive gift cards that have money left on them).
"It's always a joy to see Anna enjoying her reading and having quality time off the mobile phone. Books certainly give knowledge, but are also a great way for her to unwind." Clive, parent of one of this year's winners
Prizes:
5 people, who meet the eligibility criteria below, will receive a £250/€250 National Book Tokens gift card
- No purchase necessary to enter the prize draw.
- Opening date: Wednesday 18th September 2024.
- Closing date: 11:59pm, Sunday 20th October 2024.
- Only one entry per person will be accepted. Entrants may not win more than one prize.
- Entrants must be aged 16 or over and residents of the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and Republic of Ireland. This prize draw is not open to employees of The Booksellers Association, Book Tokens Ltd., their immediate families, members of The Booksellers Association, or anyone else connected with this promotion.
- Eligibility: Nominees must be aged 16 to 24 as of Sunday 10th October 2024 and be a residents of the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, or Republic of Ireland. The Promoter will confirm these details before prizes are dispatched. Entrants may nominate themselves. Nominees can be entered by more than one entrant, but may not win more than one prize.
- Prizes are non-transferable, subject to availability, and there are no cash alternatives. The Promoter reserves the right to amend the specification of the prize or offer an alternative prize of equivalent or greater value in the event of unforeseen circumstances. In exceptional circumstances, the Promoter reserves the right to foreclose the prize draw without notice.
- If National Book Tokens gift cards or e-gift cards are included in the prize, they can be spent in participating bookshops. If ‘signed’ copies are included in the prize, the books will either be signed directly by the author/illustrator(s) or signed bookplates will be provided (either separately or stuck in the book).
- Entrants must complete the above form to enter. At the Promoter’s discretion, entries submitted via any other method may be considered invalid.
- The Promoter may disqualify any entrant whose entry does not comply with these terms and conditions (in Promoter's sole opinion) or who (in Promoter’s sole determination) has acted in a manner that is fraudulent, dishonest or unjust to other entrants including, without limitation, tampering with the operation of the prize draw, manipulating or rigging votes, hacking, deceiving, cheating or by harassing or threatening other entrants or a representative of Promoter.
- Entrants agree to the use of their personal data by the Promoter for the purposes of administering the competition. The Promoter may publish the first name, age and county of the nominee after the prize draw has closed, and will make the last name and county available on request. Please make this request to booktokens@booktokens.co.uk and state the name of the competition in the subject line. The request must be received within 10 weeks of the closing date. If Entrants do not want these details to be published or made available, please notify the email address above. Please note that we are required to make these details available on request to the ASA. Information on how we process personal data can be found in our Privacy Policy.
- The Promoter will select winners at random from all qualifying entries within 14 days of the closing date, and will notify winners by email within 30 days of the closing date. In the event of a winner not responding within 14 days of being contacted, or if a winner declines to accept the prize, the Promoter reserves the right to allocate the prize to another winner, or foreclose the prize. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for entrants not receiving the Promoter’s communications due to their spam filter, accidental deletion, invalid email address provided, or for any other reason.
- The Promoter will make all reasonable effort to ensure the delivery of prizes to winners, but accepts no responsibility or liability for prizes that are not received once they have been despatched due to circumstances beyond the Promoter's control.
- The Promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
- By entering the prize draw, entrants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
- Promoter: Book Tokens Ltd, 6 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR.
*You may find older plastic gift cards in shops as we encourage retailers to use remaining stock rather than destroy it. At present, personalised gift cards cannot be printed on paper board. National Book Tokens and Bookily gift cards can be topped-up and reused rather than thrown away.