Museum of Making wins national family friendly title

Derby Museums’ Museum of Making has won a national award for being one of the most family friendly in the UK.

At a recent ceremony in London, the museum, at Derby Silk Mill, was named Best Medium Museum in the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Awards 2022.

Run by the charity Kids in Museums, the Family Friendly Museum Award celebrates museums, galleries, historic homes or heritage sites in the UK that go the extra mile to provide a great experience for families.

Cathy Putz, director programming at Derby Museums, said: “We are delighted to have won the Kids in Museums Best Medium Museum Award, especially as the decision was made by undercover family judges who visited our museum over the summer holidays.

“Our staff and volunteer team work tirelessly to ensure that our family offer at the museum is relevant, welcoming and inclusive to all and we are delighted that families felt this passion and commitment in their experience on site.”

Since it launched in 2004, the award has become a benchmark of excellence in the heritage sector.

Each year Kids in Museums receives hundreds of public nominations, which are whittled down to a shortlist by an expert panel.

The final say goes to families, who visit each shortlisted museum over the summer holidays, and decide the winners.

Competing against three other museums in the Best Medium Museum category, the museum clinched the win with family judges impressed by how all generations could get hands on and make together.

The museum was also praised for working closely with its local community and providing great facilities, including discounted parking and a family friendly café.

The family friendly award is the latest national recognition for the Museum of Making, which opened its doors last year.

It was recently highly commended for the Visitor Welcome Award at the 2022 Museums + Heritage Awards.

And it was a finalist for the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year Award 2022, the world’s largest museum prize, in recognition of its innovative work inspiring future generations to learn, think and make.