The National Trust is delighted to announce that three of its properties have won awards at this year's Renaissance Heritage Awards, which recognise excellence in museums and heritage across the region.
Woolsthorpe Manor won the Best Exhibition category for its work on the Woolsthorpe ABC, a community exhibition shown at the property between July and September 2007. The display of artwork, photographs and posters by local schools, community groups, visitors and staff was based on an alphabet about Isaac Newton, Woolsthorpe Manor and the local area. Staff from the property received their award at a ceremony that took place at Boston Guildhall on Wednesday 6 August. Property Manager at Woolsthorpe Manor, Susan Haimes, said:
'We’re so pleased that this exhibition was recognised – we worked with our volunteers, local schools and community groups to produce the ABC and it really seemed to catch people’s imagination. We even had three artworks that visitors could work on while they were at the property. We’ve built some great relationships with the people that helped us, and many of the exhibits are still being used here or by other participants.'
At an awards ceremony that took place at Hardwick Hall on 22 July, the Museum of the Year accolade went to Sudbury Hall's Museum of Childhood, where the team also won the Caring for Collections award for their conservation work during the £2.2 million re-development project. Alison Love, House and Collections Manager of Sudbury Hall and the Museum of Childhood said:
'Both awards are real recognition for all the staff and volunteers who have worked so hard to make the Museum of Childhood the success that it is. Throughout the development of the Museum of Childhood project the National Trust have placed people right at the heart of our plans and we offer all of our visitors the exciting and inspirational experience that they deserve.'
Meanwhile, a special Judges’ Award was presented to Jo Rawson, the Community Learning Officer at the Hardwick Estate for the community outreach project Grot2Green. The project involved weekly environmental activity sessions at the Model Village Primary School in Shirebrook, a Recycling Day to help clean up the area and a poster competition to promote recycling and discourage people from dropping litter.
'Protecting the environment is at the heart of the National Trust’s purpose, so we were very excited to work with our partners on the Grot2Green project and be able to increase environmental awareness in the area by encouraging local children and their families to give greater consideration to green issues. It’s a great example of helping people to see that we can all make a difference by making small changes in our lives.'
The Grot2Green project was run by the National Trust in partnership with Derbyshire County Council, Bolsover District council, Bolsover Countryside Partnership, the Fire Service, Model Village Primary School, Safer Neighbourhood Team, Probation Service and local residents groups. Funding for the project came from the Community and Voluntary Partners through the Local Strategic Partnership.
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