These standard terms and conditions are subject to any other terms and conditions provided to you or to which you are referred at the time of entering the competition.
1. This competition is organised by Essex County Council (ECC), County Hall, Market Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1QH
2. ECC reserves the right to void, suspend, cancel or amend the competition at any time without prior notice. Any changes will be posted on the Essex Library Services website located: libraries.essex.gov.uk
3. In the event of any dispute regarding the competition, the final decision of ECC shall be binding and no correspondence or discussion shall be entered into. Terms and conditions shall be governed by English law and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
5. Entrants must satisfy the following conditions to enter the competition:
a) They have completed four or more winter reading bingo challenges.
b) Completion has been registered through the website and they have completed the form.
6. Employees of ECC and their families are eligible to enter this competition.
7. Use of false name or address will result in disqualification.
8. ECC reserves the right to disqualify any entrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe the entrant has breached any of these terms and conditions.
9. ECC reserves the right to disqualify an entrant if their conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the prize competition.
10. ECC will not accept competition entries that are automatically generated by computer; completed by third parties in bulk; illegible, altered, reconstructed, forged or tampered with; or incomplete.
11. Individuals enter by selecting the challenges they have completed and clicking through the Winter Reading Bingo web page, then completing the form.
12. If individuals are unable to use this method, they should speak to library staff who can enter their details on the online form on their behalf.
13. The closing date for the prize draw is one week after the end of the Winter Reading Challenge – Sunday 1 March 2026
14. Entries received after the closing date are automatically disqualified.
15. ECC accepts one entry per person, which can include more than one entrant per household.
16. Entrants will go into a prize draw to be drawn as soon as possible after the closing date.
17. ECC cannot accept responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation, communications line failure, theft, destruction, alteration of, or unauthorised access to entries, quadrants or entries lost or delayed whether or not arising during operation as a result of server functions, virus, bugs or other causes outside its control.
18. ECC accepts no responsibility for entries not received for whatever reason or for missing contact details submitted with each entry.
19. By entering this competition, the entrant is indicating his/her/their agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
20. There will be a range of prizes available, and a separate draw will take place for each prize. Every eligible entry will be entered into the draw for all prizes (except where point 21 applies). If an entrant is successful in winning a prize they will be excluded from the remaining draws. Please refer to the library website for details of the available prizes.
21. Some prizes may have age restrictions and only entrants that meet those requirements will be entered into those draws, but there will be prizes suitable for all age groups.
22. The initial winners will be contacted within 2 weeks after the closing date, which will confirm that they have won.
23. In the case that the selected winner fails to respond within 2 weeks of receipt of our confirmation message, or is unable to take up the prize a new winner will be selected.
24. In the case that three winners have been selected and all have failed to respond to the confirmation message within their two-week window no further winners shall be selected. In this instance the prize will remain the property of ECC.
25. These prizes are - non-transferable and no cash alternatives to the prizes will be offered.
26. By entering the competition, the winner(s) agree(s) to take part in publicity e.g. media, social media and featuring on ECC and Essex Libraries website: essex.gov.uk / libraries.essex.gov.uk
27. Essex County Council cannot accept any responsibility for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any entrant entering the competition or as a result of accepting any prize. Essex County Council is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any computer on-line systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software failure of any email or entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the internet, including any injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in the competition.
28. Essex County Council handles information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR and is the data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018. The personal information provided by you when entering into the competition will be used to administer the competition and will not be shared with anyone unless the law allows us to do so. Essex County Council will hold your name, age and address to announce the winner of the competition and for promotional purposes. If you would like to see any personal information held on you by us please contact Transparency Team (TT): Essex County Council, PO Box 11, Chelmsford CM1 1LX, 01245 431851, transparencyteam@essex.gov.uk.
36. You can contact us in relation to the competition by writing to the Essex Library Services, County Hall, Market Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1QH or by email at essex.libraries@essex.gov.uk