The Family Friendly Museum Award is the only Award where families pick the winner and is organised by Kids in Museums. This year, the Award saw a record 850 nominations, from tiny one-roomed galleries to mighty museums of international reputation.
Here’s why 10 year old Zara said Tullie House should win: “Tullie House is our favourite, favourite, favourite museum in the whole world. We go with Gran and Grandad all the time. There are so many cool things to see and do.”
Tullie House has a wide-ranging collection which includes a Tudor racing bells, Georgian ball gowns, Suffragette photographs, over 100,000 insects, 16th century bandits’ armour and one of the oldest violins in the world. It welcomes toddlers for weekly baby sessions and Brownies for sleepovers, and has family-friendly tray liners in the café with mazes to trace your way back to a Roman fort.
Six shortlisted museums were road-tested by undercover families against the 20 points on the Kids in Museums Manifesto. Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery shone through as the most welcoming on all counts, from the temporary exhibitions to the toilets.
“We are delighted to win this prestigious national award and it’s a fantastic accolade to the hard work and commitment of the whole museum team,” said Tullie House Director, Hilary Wade. “The team work extremely hard to develop engaging family-friendly exhibitions that will appeal to all visitors and we would like to thank everyone who nominated Tullie House.”
Shortlisted museum, the Winding House in Caerphilly, Wales, was given a Special Commendation for Outstanding Contribution to their Local Community – the first time any museum has been given such a commendation. This is in recognition of the testimonies local families gave to their museum, saying how much it meant to them.
