Main Image: Historic Royal Palaces' team pick up the Innovation Award at last year's M+H Awards at Northumberland Avenue, London for their The Lost Palace VR attraction
The deadline for entries to the 16th Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence is just three weeks away. Thursday 1 February will be the cut off day with the shortlist being announced in March
Below is all you need to know about the process for applications, top tips and the latest information about the categories and a new host for the award ceremony
To enter the awards follow this link to the Museums + Heritage Awards website
This year’s M+H Awards for Excellence has 11 categories to choose from, including the return of the free Volunteer(s) of the Year Award, and the new Best Shop Award, which is split into two categories for shops with a turnover of under £500k and for those with a turnover of more than £500k. The new Best Shop Award will celebrate best practice in museum and heritage retailing and will not only look at profit but the entire retail operation over the past year and aims to honour the leaders in the sector. There is also a reduced fee for the Project on a Limited Budget Award.
The entry process is made simple with a step-by-step guide, which gives helpful tips and advice on what to include as well as all the relevant criteria.
The awards are open to all museums, galleries, cultural and heritage visitor attractions and their partners and suppliers, no matter what size with a project completed or implimented in 2017. And they continue to generate public recognition for the winners and shortlistees and have been instrumental in helping many to secure funding and support from key stakeholders. Award winners have also enjoyed recognition both locally and further afield as the awards increasingly gain an international profile.
Top Tips from Anna Preedy, Director, Museums + Heritage Awards
Tip 1: It’s critical that your Two Page Entry Paper stands on its own two feet. Don’t bury important facts and figures in the supporting material and be sure to sell your success to the judges! Get your manager or director to read and sign off the paper before submission to make sure that it makes sense to someone else – you may know your project inside and out but the judges may not.
Tip 2: Make sure you tailor your entry paper to the specific criteria of the category you are entering. For example if you are entering a particular exhibition in the Temporary or Touring Exhibition and also in the Marketing Campaign category then your two entries need to be tailored to the relevant criteria for each. A simple cut and paste is unlikely to succeed as each category is judged on a different criteria.
Tip 3: If you are entering the awards on behalf of your client, we urge you to seek input from your client. Don’t forget, our judges are all leading museums and heritage attraction professionals and so seek to scrutinise the facts and figures, the ROI and impact. Do make sure you get permission from your client to enter!
Once the deadline has passed, entries will be whittled down to a shortlist, published in March, by the esteemed panel of judges made up of five leading lights in the sector who look for evidence of ‘project outcome, creativity, relation to the objective and cost effectiveness’.
Tiina Merisalo Museum Director, Helsinki City Museum, Winner Of International Award 2017Winning the Museums + Heritage International Award was a proud moment for our dedicated staff and a delightful acknowledgement of their hard work. We knew we had built a museum that people want to visit time and again, but receiving the award was a remarkable recognition from the professional museum field. Post-award, we have had the great pleasure of presenting our project to numerous museum professionals in Helsinki, in Finland and in conferences around the world.
This year the awards will be presented at 8 Northumberland Avenue on 16 May by the Reverend Richard Coles, known for his successful pop career in The Communards and his tolerant and open-minded personality, which has become evident through his many appearances on television and radio, which included a stint on Strictly Come Dancing last year. There will be a sit down meal at the ceremony with an after party sponsored by BECK.
List of Categories for the M+H Awards for Excellence 2018
Permanent Exhibition
Temporary or Touring Exhibition – sponsored by Displayways
Educational Initiative – sponsored by Volunteer Makers
Project on a Limited Budget – supported by Arts Council England
Innovation Award – sponsored by The Hub
Marketing Campaign – sponsored by BDRC
International Award
Restoration or Conservation
Volunteer(s) of the Year Award – in partnership with AIM
Fundraisers of the Year
Best Shop (under £500k and over £500k)
This year’s M+H Awards 2018 has 11 categories to choose from, including the return of the free Volunteer(s) of the Year Award, and the new Best Shop Award, which is split into two categories for projects under £500k turnover and over £500k turnover. The new Best Shop Award will celebrate best practice in museum and heritage retailing and will not only look at profit but the entire retail operation over the past year and aims to honour the leaders in the sector. There is also a reduced fee for the Project on a Limited Budget Award.
The entry process is made simple by a special brochure, which gives helpful tips and advice on what to include as well as all the relevant criteria.
The awards are open to all museums, galleries, cultural and heritage visitor attractions and their suppliers, no matter what size with a project completed or brought into use in 2017. And they continue to generate public recognition for the winners and shortlistees and have been instrumental in helping many to secure funding and support from key stakeholders. Award winners have also enjoyed recognition both locally and further afield as the awards increasingly gain an international profile.
This year’s M+H Awards for Excellence has 11 categories to choose from, including the return of the free Volunteer(s) of the Year Award, and the new Best Shop Award, which is split into two categories for projects under £500k turnover and over £500k turnover. The new Best Shop Award will celebrate best practice in museum and heritage retailing and will not only look at profit but the entire retail operation over the past year and aims to honour the leaders in the sector. There is also a reduced fee for the Project on a Limited Budget Award.
The entry process is made simple by a special brochure, which gives helpful tips and advice on what to include as well as all the relevant criteria.
The awards are open to all museums, galleries, cultural and heritage visitor attractions and their suppliers, no matter what size with a project completed or brought into use in 2017. And they continue to generate public recognition for the winners and shortlistees and have been instrumental in helping many to secure funding and support from key stakeholders. Award winners have also enjoyed recognition both locally and further afield as the awards increasingly gain an international profile.
