Leicestershire museums in family friendly top 20 (From Redditch Advertiser)

Leicestershire museums in family friendly top 20

2:57pm Thursday 3rd December 2009

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TWO Leicestershire museums have been included in the 20-strong longlist for the prestigious Guardian Family-Friendly Museum Award 2009.

Snibston in Coalville and Charnwood Museum in Loughborough, both run by Leicestershire County Council with Charnwood Museum managed in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council, have been selected for their 'pioneering work with families'. These are the only two museums to have been chosen in the East Midlands region.

This achievement is the result of a focused campaign of activity, led by Leicester Shire Promotions, with support from Leicestershire County Council and the National Space Centre, to encourage visitors to five museums in the city and county to nominate their favourite by filling in specially-designed scrapbooks. Set up by The Guardian newspaper in conjunction with the charity 'Kids in Museums', the Guardian Family-Friendly Award aims to recognise museums in the UK that have shown a particularly welcoming attitude towards all members of the family market - from parents and teenagers to grandparents and toddlers.

The 20 that have been selected will now go before a panel of distinguished judges, chaired by Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund. This panel will draw up a shortlist that will be road tested anonymously by families, who will pick the national winner.

Councillor Ernie White, Cabinet Lead Member for Museums at Leicestershire County Council, said: "This is a fantastic achievement for Charnwood Museum and Snibston.

"We are proud of the recognition they have received for their contributions in ensuring their museums are child-friendly in every way. Being the only two to be chosen in the East Midlands, it is very well deserved."

Charnwood Museum is run as a partnership between Leicestershire County Council and Charnwood Borough Council. Councillor Peter Lewis, Cabinet Lead Member for Culture and Leisure at Charnwood Borough Council said: "Charnwood Museum is an attraction our Borough is very proud of and this has been reflected in the nomination. The museum has attracted over 500,000 visitors since opening in April 1999 and, with its varied hands-on displays, it provides a lively and engaging way to make real our local history. I'm delighted to hear families agree that this wonderful attraction deserves national recognition."

The awards scheme was founded after one of The Guardian's journalists, Dea Birkett, was asked to leave a very famous London-based gallery because her then two-year-old son excitedly shouted 'monster' at a piece of Aztec art - behaviour which the museum deemed as unacceptable.

After Dea wrote about her and her family's untimely removal from the museum, the newspaper was inundated with letters from hundreds of readers who had similar experiences.

Commenting on the longlisting of the Leicestershire museums, Dea Birkett said: "Leicestershire museums took the challenge of the Award and rose to it, using the opportunity to ask visitors what they enjoyed most in their museums. Snibston and Charnwood shone through, as visitors commented on their friendliness and facilities.

"These museums not only provided fabulous hands-on activities, but good loos and a place to sit down. They recognised that the whole experience, not just the exhibits, is important to visitors."

Martin Peters, Chief Executive of Leicester Shire Promotions, added: "To make the Top 20 list of national family-friendly museums is a magnificent achievement for both Snibston and Charnwood. The longlisting exercise was a thorough one and we're confident that the visitor feedback generated by our recent campaign had a significant influence on the judges.

"We wish the museums the best of luck for the shortlisting process and hope to be celebrating a Leicestershire win soon."

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