Highland Museum nominated for national award

The Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore is the only museum on mainland Scotland to be nominated for the 2009 Guardian Family Friendly Museum Awards.  The other Scottish finalist is the Shetland Museum in Lerwick.

A team of Kids in Museums volunteers have been busy whittling down the huge pile of nominations to draw up a list of 20 UK museums which are particularly welcoming to families and ensure that visitors have an enjoyable and memorable time.

Over the last few months families have been encouraged to contact the Guardian to nominate museums which have been particularly welcoming and child-friendly. To promote the Highland Folk Museums entry staff designed a poster of the Kids in Museum Manifesto which was used by the organizers on their website as an example of good practice.

The next stage in the competition is for a distinguished panel of judges, chaired by Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, to come up with a short list.  All short listed entries will receive unannounced visits by volunteer families who will report back on how their visits were and the overall winner will be announced in the Guardian next year.

The Highland Council’s Principal Museums Officer Bob Powell said:  “It is a huge honour to be nominated and a great credit to all the staff at the Highland Folk Museum who work hard to ensure people of all ages have an exciting and enjoyable visit.  We offer something for the whole family and to complement the experiences visitors get, we run a programme of special activities and events.

“There is a lot of good work currently underway in museums throughout the UK to inspire and encourage young people to get the most from their visits and to ensure a trip to a museum is very much an activity the whole family can share and enjoy.”

For a list of all the nominated museums visit www.kidsinmuseums.org.uk