FAMILIES have been voting in their thousands in the Little Ankle Biters annual awards, created to shine a light on the talented and hardworking people behind Hampshire’s family-friendly community.

Although the Award Ceremony is virtual due to current lockdown restrictions, Little Ankle Biters is also hosting an in-person celebratory party for all finalists in early July at Preston’s Cafe in Overton.

As businesses gear up to follow the government’s exit plan and emerge out of lockdown in the coming weeks, it’s a perfect time for The Hampshire Awards to announce the winners in each of the 17 categories from across the County including Basingstoke, Winchester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Lymington and all the surrounding towns and villages.

The categories range from Best Party Supplier to Best Family-friendly Place To Eat, and Best Pregnancy Service to Best Family Attraction. This year, there is also the Best Community Spirit Award, designed to recognise a family-friendly business that has adapted and evolved to continue its outstanding service during lockdown.

Little Ankle Biters is a free website providing families with trusted reviews of family-friendly businesses in one place with all content written by local mums.

Editor Katherine Antrobus from Basingstoke, said: “The response from the public to these Awards has been phenomenal. We had over 1,000 local Hampshire businesses nominated by families across the county in the first stage of the Awards. Then 5 finalists in each category were selected, and we received over 10,000 votes from parents and carers for their favourites to win.

"It’s given the local and independent businesses something positive to share with their customers during these difficult last few months and they should all be proud of being nominated in the first place, let alone getting through to being a finalis and potentially winning.”

The Awards will be held live @littleanklebitershants on Instagram at 1pm on the March 27.