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GAGB Geocaching Awards 2023

The GAGB are excited to be running the GAGB Geocaching Awards which will recognise and celebrate outstanding geocaches and geocachers.

Voting is now OPEN until Thursday 10th August at 23:59. You can vote here.

All geocachers/geocaching teams in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands are entitled to cast one vote per category.

:GAGB Geocaching Awards

The winners will be announced and presented with their award at the GAGB's 20th anniversary event in September (GCA7MF3).

See below for the full list of categories and guidance, along with the rules. A timetable for the whole awards process is also provided. Frequently asked questions can be found at the bottom of the page.

Categories

Category
Guidance
Best Cache Must have been published between 2017 – 2022 inclusive and live as of 31st December 2022. All non-physical cache types (including Labs) and events are not included. Sponsored by PinPoint.
Best Series Must have been published between 2017 – 2022 inclusive and live as of 31st December 2022. Does not include national series or Adventure Labs. Sponsored by The SideTracked Series.
Best Non-Physical Cache Only includes Virtual Rewards and EarthCaches - must have been published between 2017 – 2022 inclusive and live as of 31st December 2022. Sponsored by Severn UK Mega 2025.
Best Adventure Lab Includes Adventure Labs set by individual cachers and those associated with (Mega) events. Must have been set between 2017 – 2022 inclusive. Sponsored by London Calling.
Best Puzzle Cache Mystery caches only – any Multis with a puzzle element are not included. Challenge and bonus caches do not count. Must have been published between 2017 – 2022 inclusive and live as of 31st December 2022. Sponsored by Cache 'N' Carry.
Best Multi Cache Must have been published between 2017 – 2022 inclusive and live as of 31st December 2022. Includes all types of Multi caches. Sponsored by Snag the Tag, courtesy of TheSpecialAgents.
Best Extreme Cache Doesn't need to be a 5/5 but should be 'extreme' - Must have been published between 2017 – 2022 inclusive and live as of 31st December 2022. High terrain events not included. Sponsored by big eddie
Best Night Cache Specifically designed to be done at night – must have been published between 2017 – 2022 inclusive and live as of 31st December 2022. Sponsored by Project Geocoin.
Best Online Cache Log Funniest, most inspiring, or pack of lies. DNF, Found, Notes - all log types on all cache and event types included. Must have been posted between 2017 – 2022 inclusive. Sponsored by FLTF.
Best Geocoin Must have been released between 2017 – 2022 inclusive. It does not have to have been on sale as of 31st December 2022. Geocoins must be from within our geographical remit (Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands). Excludes all GAGB geocoins. Sponsored by Rainbow Caching.
Geocacher of the Year Could be the most dedicated cache owner, keenest cache maintainer, most inspiring or creative cache owner, most helpful event host, most committed cacher who went the extra mile and more… basically this could be called 'Services to Geocaching’. Sponsored by NE Geocaching Supplies.
Newbie of the Year Must have begun geocaching in 2022. Sponsored by idreamer.
Young Cacher of the Year A junior cacher who's added something to the game. Must have been under 18 at some point in 2022. Sponsored by phoebeandfamily
Achievement Award Either a Lifetime Achievement award, or for someone who's Overcome Adversity in the pursuit of Tupperware. Basically, an impressive, inspirational cacher. Sponsored by Rainbow Caching.
The Thank You Award Special mentions for geocachers who contributed to the game but have passed away between 2017 – 2022 inclusive. This category will not be voted on.

Rules and Terms & Conditions

  1. All geocachers, including non-GAGB members, based within Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are eligible to nominate, vote, and win a GAGB Geocaching Award. This excludes incumbent members of the GAGB Executive Committee.
  2. Eligible geocachers (as defined above) can submit up to three nominations per category via the online form.
  3. Nominations do not have to be submitted for every category, although this is encouraged.
  4. The nominations form can only be completed once – all nominations must be submitted at the same time.
  5. Nominations must solely be for geocaches, series, Adventure Labs, and geocachers within Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands
  6. Geocaches on all listing sites are eligible to be nominated.
  7. Nominations must comply with the guidance for each category in order to be valid.
  8. You cannot nominate your own geocaches.
  9. Geocaches which won an award as part of the geocaching awards organised during the West Midlands Mega Week in 2022 are eligible to be nominated, providing that they also comply with the guidance for the relevant category.
  10. An individual can be nominated in up to two categories. For example, it would be permissible to nominate someone for ‘Geocacher of the Year’ and also nominate one of their geocaches for ‘Best Cache’.
  11. Incumbent members of the GAGB Executive Committee (elected in November 2022) are not eligible to be nominated, cannot submit nominations themselves, and are not entitled to vote.
  12. GAGB Regional Representatives, Appointed Members, Friends, Supporters, Founders, and former Committee Members are eligible to be nominated, nominate, and vote.
  13. All nominations will be reviewed by members of the GAGB Executive Committee who will assess their validity and compliance with the guidance and rules. The GAGB reserve the right to discard nominations which are not valid.
  14. Members of the GAGB Executive Committee will produce a shortlist of up to five finalists for each category. These shortlists will be final, and those on the shortlist will be informed prior to them being made public
  15. All geocachers in the UK are entitled to cast one vote per category based on the shortlists. Strict measures will be implemented to ensure this, and any duplicate votes or additional votes by geocachers outside of the UK will be disregarded.
  16. Collusion is forbidden at all stages. For example (but not limited to), you cannot ask anyone to nominate or vote for you, attempt to influence the shortlisting process, nor cast additional votes yourself, via fellow geocachers, or other means.
  17. All awards are available to be sponsored, including by geocaching groups, organisations, businesses, and individuals. The fee is £10 per award. Sponsorship will cover the cost of producing the physical award and contribute towards meeting associated operational costs. Any money left following these expenses will be retained by the GAGB to fund the organisation’s work as set out in the GAGB Constitution.

Timetable

The GAGB Geocaching Awards will follow a timetable of approximately six months, as set out below.

Date/Time Stage
Friday 24th March Nominations open
Saturday 10th June at 23:59 Nominations close
Monday 10th July at 0:00 Voting opens
Thursday 10th August at 23:59 Voting closes
Saturday 30th September Winners announced at our 20th anniversary event (GCA7MF3)

The shortlists have been finalised and voting is now open - you can vote here.

Sponsorship

The GAGB is relying on sponsorship to ensure that the cost of producing each physical award is covered, as well associated operational costs.

A huge THANK YOU to all our sponsors, who are listed above, for supporting the GAGB Geocaching Awards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, it has! The National Geocaching Awards were organised by Simply Paul, with the first set being handed out in 2016 at the Geolympix Mega (GC5XXYY), which was held within the grounds of the Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire. We were there, sponsoring and handing out ‘The GAGB Award for Most Helpful Landowner or Management Authority’, which was won by The National Trust. The National Geocaching Awards returned the following year, this time at the Devon UK Mega Event at Bicton College (GC6JZNY). However, they have not been held since.

The GAGB committee feel it is about time the awards were brought back! It also seems apt to celebrate the best of geocaching during our 20th anniversary year.

We are grateful to Simply Paul for all the support and advice he has provided. The GAGB Geocaching Awards are closely based on the format of the original National Geocaching Awards, so much credit goes to Simply Paul as we pick up where he left off.

In addition, the West Midlands Mega Committee organised their own, separate set of awards in 2022 to coincide with Mega Week.

As the National Geocaching Awards were last held in 2017, the GAGB committee decided that it would be good to include caches which have been published in the intervening period, rather than only considering those from 2022.

Caches from 2016 or earlier have already had a chance to win an award in the 2016 and 2017 National Geocaching Awards.

During this period, the GAGB committee will go through all the nominations received and create a shortlist for each category.

Firstly, all nominations will be checked to ensure that they are valid, i.e. in compliance with the category guidance and rules included above.

The specific method for shortlisting from the list of valid nominations will not be disclosed, but factors such as favourite point percentages and the reasons given for a nomination will be taken into account by a panel of GAGB committee members, who will reach a collective decision.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during the GAGB’s 20th anniversary event on 30th September in Worcestershire (GCA7MF3).

The reason they will not be announced once the vote closes are twofold: votes need to be verified and the physical awards will then need to be ordered!

You will have to wait until the award ceremony to find out! What we can tell you is that they will be physical awards which the winners will be able to display with pride.

If you have any further questions, please email awards@gagb.org.uk