Volunteers for Museum Learning


The Marsh Trust awards

This award recognises best practice and the innovative ways in which volunteers work in museums and galleries to engage the public with collections.

The national winner of this year's Marsh Volunteers for Museum Learning Award is Del Elliott for his work at National Museums Wales in 2009.

These awards were set up in 2008 in collaboration between the British Museum and the Marsh Christian Trust.

See last year's winners

The Marsh Trust Award

This exciting award recognises best practice and the innovative ways in which volunteers work in museums and galleries to engage the public
with collections.

Who can enter?

  • Any individual or small group of people (maximum of 10 people per group) who worked on a voluntary basis in direct contact with the public in an accredited museum or gallery during the previous year can apply.
  • The ways in which you engage with museum audiences could include activity both at the museum and off-site in an outreach capacity. The museum audiences you work with could be specific such as school groups or families or it could be general visitors to your museum.
  • A museum may enter on behalf of an individual volunteer or small group of volunteers.
  • The voluntary work must have taken place during the previous year and must have a focus on education or learning.
  • There will be 12 regional winners (9 English regions and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and one overall winner.
  • The award is presented to an individual or small group and not to the museum. Entries must focus specifically on the achievements of volunteers and not on the structure of the museum’s volunteer programme.
  • Volunteers at the British Museum may
    not apply.

 

Entries are now closed for this year.

The prizes

Each regional winner receives £500. The overall winner chosen from the regional winners also receives an additional £2000. All winners receive a certificate. Prizes are presented at a ceremony at the British Museum.

Judging criteria

Applications will be judged against the
following criteria:

  • Making a difference to their museum
  • Improving the museum experience
    for visitors
  • Positive feedback from museum
    visitors and staff

The judging

All entries will be judged by a panel comprising
of Marsh Trust staff, British Museum volunteers and staff, and a representative from one of the regions.

The decisions of the judging panel are final.
No entry will win by default if it is the only entry
in a region; it must meet the criteria and will be entered in with a neighbouring region for
judging purposes.

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