The charity awards the prize annually to one museum, gallery, historic home or heritage site in the UK that goes the extra mile to provide a great experience for families. It is the only museum award to be judged by families.
This year’s award is the biggest yet, with a record-breaking number of nominations from families. Throughout April and May, families across the country voted for their favourite heritage attraction on the Kids in Museums website. A panel of museum experts then whittled down over 800 nominations to a shortlist.
The shortlist for the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award 2019 is:
Large Museums Category
- Museum of Liverpool
- Riverside Museum, Glasgow
- World Museum, Liverpool
Medium Museums Category
- Bolton Museum & Art Gallery
- Great North Museum: Hancock
- London Transport Museum
- The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
- Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
- University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge
Small Museums Category
- Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum, Dunfermline
- The Devil’s Porridge Museum, Eastriggs
- Erewash Museum, Derbyshire
- Hastings Museum & Art Gallery
- Parc Howard Museum, Llanelli
- Valence House Museum, Dagenham
Damian Dibben, bestselling children’s author and Kids in Museums Ambassador, said: “Since we began the award in 2004, we’ve seen a real sea-change in how museums cater for their family audiences. Each year the shortlisting gets more and more difficult and this year has been our most competitive yet! These museums have been shortlisted because they go above and beyond to put families first and make them feel welcome throughout their visit. We congratulate all our shortlisted museums. It’s now over to families to help us decide the winner.”
What next?
Over the summer holidays, undercover family judges will visit each shortlisted museum and judge them on how well they meet the Kids in Museums Manifesto. Their experiences will decide a winner for each award category and an overall winner, the Family Friendly Museum of the Year 2019. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in October.
Follow the Family Friendly Museum Award on Twitter by following @kidsinmuseums and #FamilyFriendlyMuseum.
The Family Friendly Museum Award has been made possible by funding from Arts Council England and is kindly supported by Edwardian Hotels London.
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Notes to Editors
For more information or images, please contact Jocelyn Murdoch at Kids in Museums on [email protected] / 020 3096 7707
About Kids in Museums
We are a charity dedicated to making museums open and welcoming to all children, young people and families. We support and champion family friendly organisations through wide-ranging initiatives, including the Family Friendly Museum Award and Takeover Day. We invite heritage organisations to sign up to our Manifesto, which sets out simple guidelines for making museums easy to reach for all ages. www.kidsinmuseums.org.uk
Find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About the Family Friendly Museum Award
Kids in Museums began the Family Friendly Museum Award in 2004 and the prize is now in its fourteenth year. The award champions museums who place families’ voices at the heart of their organisations.
Previous winners of the Family Friendly Museum Award include Leeds City Museum (2018), the People’s History Museum in Manchester (2017), York Art Gallery (2016), Tullie House in Cumbria (2015), the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall (2014) and the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London (2013).
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
