Photos of the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards

We’ve uploaded the photos of the awards to our Facebook page – why not take a look?

Winners and dignitaries cut the cake

Award winners finally announced!

Six community-run museums have won this year’s Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland heritage awards, with Hallaton named as museum of the year.

The winners were announced at a ceremony at Stapleford Park last night (Thursday, July 30).

Launched 20 years ago by Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum, the awards recognise the work of volunteers to preserve the area’s rich heritage.

The winners are:

Best project – Leicester City Football Club, for “Foxes’ Footsteps” (highly commended: Ashby Museum and Lutterworth Museum)

Award for work with children and young people – Ashby Museum, for Junior Friends of Ashby Museum (highly commended, Sir John Moore Foundation and Moira Furnace)

Best exhibition – Hallaton Museum, for “Rituals, Hoards and Helmets” (highly commended, Castle Donington Museum)

Best event – Sir John Moore Foundation, for the Rat Pack Evening (highly commended, Ullesthorpe Windmill) •

Museum of the year – Hallaton Museum (special mention, Castle Donington Museum)

Achievement award – Swannington Heritage Trust and Castle Donington Museum

Ernie White, Leicestershire County Council’s Cabinet member for Better Places, said: “I’m delighted with this year’s awards – not just for the winners, but for everyone who entered, as the standard was so high. “Hallaton is a worthy museum of the year, with its impressive new exhibition about the major Iron Age hoard found there.”

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year. The judging panel included heritage consultant Heather Lomas, Jim McCallum from Voluntary Action Leicester Shire and a panel of young people from CYCLE, the county’s youth council. For further details about community museums and the awards, see www.leics.gov.uk/community_museums

Independent museums exhibit at Snibston Discovery Museum

As every year, the good folk at Snibston in Coalville have turned over their exhibition space in the foyer to the counties’ independent museums. This year’s exhibition opened on Thursday in time to be admired by attendees of the event to launch Leicestershire County Council’s Volunteer & Internship Programme (VIP).

Exhibitors this year include Coalville Heritage Society, Whitwick Historical Group, Wigston Framework Knitters Museum, Castle Donington Museum, Foxton Canal Museum, Railway Vehicle Preservations  and Rutland County Museum. Other museums are represented with information and /or a banner.

Why not pop along and see what some of the independent museums are up to – you might get some inspiration for a summer holiday trip to somewhere you have never been before, or discover one of the counties’ hidden gems. While you are at Snibston, why not pop in and see the current Anne Frank exhibition as well.

Both the Forum exhibition and Anne Frank exhibitions are free (charges still apply if you wish to visit other galleries). Opening times are the same as Snibston.

So who entered the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards?

It’s been a bumper year for our annual Heritage Awards. Not only are we celebrating our 20th birthday (and celebrating it in style, I can assure you), but we have seen a bumper crop of entries, with excellent entries in every category.

As happens every year, I’m gobsmacked to find out about some of the things that you are up to, even though i like to think that I am in touch with most of your fairly regularly. Brilliant exhibitions, amazing work with children and young people, fabulous projects and events that I am so gutted to have missed – but I can’t come to them all (more’s the pity).

The entries in the ‘achievement’ categories emphasise how far Leicestershire & Rutland museums have come – some over a number of years, other in a much shorter time – some over only a few months.

But enough of me going on – take a look at a summary of each entry by visiting the awards page of our blog.

Winners will be announced on 30th July!

Record Entries for Museum Awards

An annual awards scheme has attracted a record number of entries, from 20 community-run museums in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The heritage awards were launched 20 years ago by Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum, to recognise the work of volunteers to preserve the area’s rich heritage.

Today, the County Council revealed that 20 different museums and heritage groups had submitted 35 entries for six different awards:

• Best special project
• Best exhibition
• The award for work with children and young people
• Best special event
• The achievement award
• Museum of the year (chosen from one of the entries to the five categories)

Community museums officer Rob Clarke said: “I’m delighted that we’ve had so many entries – it just shows how community-run museums are more relevant than ever, helping people to learn about their local history and play a part in preserving it.”

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year.
Judging will now take place, before the winners are announced at a ceremony at Stapleford Park in July. The top prize is a plaque and £100.

The judging panel includes Heather Lomas, Heritage Consultant, Jim McCallum from Voluntary Action Leicester Shire and a panel of young people.

For further details about community museums and the awards, see www.leics.gov.uk/community_museums
For media interviews, please contact the press office on 0116 305 7046 or Rob Clarke on 0116 305 4140.

View the Press Release on Leicestershire County Council’s Website for a detailed list of entries.

Community museums call for volunteers

Volunteers who run Leicestershire’s community museums are urging more people to visit their venues and get involved. They spoke out as nominations opened for the 20th annual heritage awards, which recognise the work of community museums in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year. Caroline Smedley is a volunteer at the Sir John Moore Foundation, Appleby Magna, which won the heritage award for museum of the year in 2008. She handles and records museum items, cleans the heritage centre and monitors the museum’s environment. She said: “I was looking for voluntary work and I’ve always been interested in history and museum work, but never achieved it as a career. This museum is unique and evocative, it appeals to all ages and more people should come and see it. I really enjoy working with and having responsibility for old objects in a wonderful building, with nice people. I’d really encourage other people to volunteer. It uses or develops skills and gives you a sense of self worth. Also, you meet new people with similar interests.”

Unusual things can happen to volunteers. Caroline said: “I was sweeping up on the stairs and swept up what I thought was a bit of wood. Suddenly, it squeaked and stretched out its wings – it was a small bat. I put it onto the roof and later it flew away.”

Sylvia Bradburn is a volunteer at Castle Donington Museum. She describes herself as a “general dogsbody”, working as secretary to the trust, working on collections, doing publicity work and fundraising. She said: “This museum is special because we mount a different exhibition each year, as well as schools’ exhibitions and arts and crafts. We want to create interest and share our enthusiasm with our visitors. I enjoy meeting people, working as a team and researching and learning about our past. Volunteering is an opportunity to work with like-minded people in a wide variety of jobs: from gardening to conservation; from IT to stewarding; from training opportunities to painting and decorating. The funniest thing that’s happened to me is the number of children who look at a Victorian item of clothing and ask if I wore it when I was young.”

Graham Ingham is a volunteer at Hallaton Museum, where he got involved in the railway exhibition. He decorated the museum, designed and produced exterior signs and photographed the exhibition. He said: “I enjoy meeting past acquaintances and enthusiasts as they visit the museum each weekend. Volunteering gives me great satisfaction, on seeing the final display and meeting people with similar interests. The new exhibition about the finding of the Hallaton treasure opens on May 24th and it’s another example of the dedication a small group of people bring to promoting and recording their village history.” Graham recalled his most unusual moment: “Transporting a life-sized, lifelike model of a horse through the village, lying on its side on the roof of a Land Rover, caused a general stir and much amusement.”

Rob Clarke, Leicestershire County Council’s community museums officer, said: “The heritage awards were launched by the council and the museums forum in 1989, to recognise the volunteers’ achievement in preserving the area’s rich heritage. From teenagers to 80-year-olds, each volunteer puts in time and enthusiasm to help celebrate their area’s local history. I hope more people visit their museums – and think about volunteering themselves.”

Anybody interested in being a volunteer at a community museum can find out where their local museum is by looking at www.leics.gov.uk/museums_guide.

Community museums up for awards

Unsung heroes from community-run museums are to be honoured in the 20th annual heritage awards for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Around 1,000 volunteers run 40 independent museums in the area and they attract 250,000 visitors per year. Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire and Rutland Museums Forum launched the awards in 1989, to recognise the volunteers’ achievement in preserving the area’s rich heritage. Ernie White, Leicestershire County Council Cabinet member for Community Services, said: “It’s the 20th anniversary of our awards and community-run museums are more relevant than ever – helping people to learn about their own local history and play a part in preserving it. “I’m always impressed by the quality of the entries and I hope that we get more than ever in this special anniversary year. “I’d encourage people to visit these museums over the spring, to see what’s on offer”

The categories are: Best event, Best exhibition Best special project Work with children and young people Improvement award Museum of the year.

 The first award was won by Rutland Railway Museum in 1989 and last year’s best museum was the Sir John Moore Foundation at Appleby Magna.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony at Stapleford Park in July. Entries will cover the period between June 2008 and May this year. The top prize in each category is a plaque and £100.

For further details about community museums and the awards, see www.leics.gov.uk/community_museums

Flying the flag, shouting from the rooftops, blowing our own trumpets

People so often get upset when folk talk about strategic priorities.

They think that they are awful top-down things that try and force people to do things that they are not interested in or are not relevant to their organisation. And I’m not saying they are always wrong! Of course they are top down, and of course we can’t fit in with every priority.

Sometimes, on the other hand, they are kind to us, very kind. And at the moment, things are looking pretty rosy for independent museums in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Rutland has identified increasing the number of visitors to museums as a priority for the next 2 years, and, under the new assessment framework, that could mean visits to any museums, not just those run by the council.

And although Leicestershire & Leicester haven’t specifically chosen museum visits as a priority, there are other ways to fit in. Leicestershire, for example, wishes to increase the number of people in the county that volunteer. At the last count, there were around 1,000 volunteers in independent museum in Leicestershire with plenty of capacity for more. So we can’t say that we don’t fit in there.

Leicestershire & Leicester are both interested in building stronger communities – they will be measured on whether people say they like the place in which they live and if they think that people get on well with each other in their community. There’s lots of research to show that museums contribute to just that. They strengthen communities by helping people to understand where they come from and the place they live in. They are meeting spaces where people discuss and debate the past and present, build friendships, interact as families. Museums generally improve the quality of people’s lives.

All three areas are interested in children and young people – they want to create opportunities for ‘positive activity’ – or in layman’s terms, they want to see more places to go and things to do for young people (including volunteering). And museums can be precisely such spaces.

So you see, things are looking quite good at the moment. Museums play a significant role in their communities. Even people who don’t go to museums (or about 80% of them, anyway)  say that museums are important, so there must be something in it!

But there is no point donig it if we don’t shout about it:

We must fly the flag, shout from the rooftops and blow our own trumpets.

It’s essential to ensure the long term sustainability of our organisations and our sector.

Let the good times roll…

Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards

Every year in Leicestershire & Rutland we celebrate the marvellous work of independent museums with a special awards ceremony attended by museum professionals, volunteers and the great and the good from the area.

This year is a bit special – it is 20 years since our first award ceremony (there was only one award in those days – that year it was won by Rutland Railway Museum), so we are going to celebrate it in style at Stapleford Park Country House Hotel at the end of June.

We’ll be celebrating the best exhibitions, events, projects and looking back at the last twenty years with museums, guest speakers and dignitaries attending.

It already looks like there are lots of brilliant projects going on around the counties relating to learning, collections care, digitisation, audience development and much more.

It’s going to be a great party and hopefully will go with a bang.

More news as it comes in!

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