They range from the grand (Chatsworth House) to the modest (Cottage Museum, Woodhall Spa), and from the famous (Titanic Belfast) to the obscure (the Museum of Hatting).

But they are all award winners, and on Friday 4^th December 52 heritage sites in the UK and Ireland will receive a Sandford Award in recognition of their education work.

Museums, forts, galleries, houses and archives will be among those represented at the annual Sandford Awards for Heritage Education which this year take place at the London Transport Museum, which also won an award this year.

The Sandford Awards are jointly managed by Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln and the Heritage Education Trust, and BGU’s Vice Chancellor, the Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil, will present the awards this year.

The 2015 winners, which represent a cross-section of heritage sites from across the country, include The Collection in Lincoln, Arbeia Roman Fort in South Shields, Black Country Living Museum in the West Midlands, Stockport Air Raid Shelters and the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham.

Dr Tracy Borman, Sandford Co-ordinator at Bishop Grosseteste University, said: “The Sandford Awards pay tribute to education excellence and we look forward to honouring another outstanding crop of heritage sites next month.

“For the first time this year we will also award a special prize: the Frances Garnham Award for Innovation in Heritage Education.

“We’re looking forward to another enjoyable ceremony and we’d like to congratulate all the sites who have been successful this year.”

The awards ceremony begins at 11.30am on Friday 4^th December and members of the media are welcome to attend. If you would like to come, please contact Shooting Star by calling 01522 528540 or by emailing hello@weareshootingstar.co.uk.

Sandford Award Winners 2015

Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields
Battle of Bannockburn
Bingley Five Rise Locks
Black Country Living Museum, Dudley
Bruce Castle Museum, Haringey
Burghley House, Stamford
Canterbury Roman Museum
Castell Henllys Iron Age Village
Chatsworth House
Clitheroe Castle
The Collection, Lincoln
Colne Valley Museum
Cottage Museum, Woodhall Spa
Danelaw Centre for Living History, York
Discovery Museum & Tyne and Wear Archives
Experience Barnsley
Falmouth Art Gallery
Foxton Locks, Market Harborough
Framework Knitters Museum, Nottingham
Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Hall Place & Gardens, Bexley
Harvington Hall, Kidderminster
Hatton Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Hatworks: The Museum of Hatting, Stockport
The Higgins Bedford
Holdenby House,Northampton
Hopetoun House, Edinburgh
The Judge’s Lodging, Powys
Keats House, London
Kent Life, Maidstone
Kerry County Museum
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Locomotion, County Durham
London Transport Museum
Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre
National Maritime Museum Cornwall
National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
Parliament Education Service
Pollok House, Glasgow
Queen Street Mill, Burnley
Richmond Cultural Education Partnership
Science Museum, London
Segedunum Roman Fort, Wallsend
Sheffield Cathedral
Shipley Art Gallery
South Shields Museum and Art Gallery
Stockport Air Raid Shelters
Tatton Park, Cheshire
Titanic Belfast
Wolves Museum, Wolverhampton
The Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere
World Rugby Museum, Twickenham

Notes to editors

• The Sandford Awards were established in 1978 by Lord Sandford to encourage those responsible for running historic houses and guide their educational endeavours by monitoring standards.

• The awards were originally administered by The Council for Environmental Education. To develop the awards more fully, the Heritage Education Trust was established in 1983 and now runs the scheme in collaboration with Bishop Grosseteste University.

• Bishop Grosseteste University was established in uphill Lincoln in January 1862 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2012.

• It is an independent higher education institution which awards its own degrees at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate level.

For more information about the Sandford Awards please contact:
Dr Tracy Borman
Sandford Co-ordinator
01522 583695
tracy.borman@bishopg.ac.uk

For media information please contact:
Jez Ashberry
Shooting Star
01522 528540
07780 735071
jez@weareshootingstar.co.uk

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