AFTER an exciting virtual award ceremony, 17 local businesses can now declare themselves the best family-friendly places to visit and suppliers to use, thanks to 10,000 votes from families across Hampshire.

Katherine Antrobus, Editor of Little Ankle Biters Hampshire, streamed the celebration of local and independent businesses from her kitchen, with a little help from her family to create some theatre and excitement for those crowned the winners on the day.

The winning businesses include Baby Necessities, a charity based in Romsey, WestQuay pop up Trenza Braid Bar, Sweet Peas Play Cafe in Fareham, CrumbleJack Cafe in Fareham, Winchester City Dance and The Watercress Line.

A full list of all the finalists, runners up and winners in Hampshire can be found on the Little Ankle Biters website, a free resource providing families with trusted reviews of family-friendly businesses with all content written by local mums.

Editor of Little Ankle Biters Hampshire, Katherine Antrobus, said: “Running these awards has been great fun, and it’s been brilliant to discover all the amazing places to spend time at as a family, or use when hosting a children’s birthday party.

"The response from the public to the awards have been phenomenal - we had over 1,000 local businesses nominated and then 5 finalists in each category were selected, and we received over 10,000 votes from parents, grandparents and carers for their favourites to win.”

Although the ceremony was virtual due to current lockdown restrictions, Little Ankle Biters is hosting an in-person celebratory party for all the businesses named as finalists in early July.