Museum of Making in Derby shortlisted for Visitor Attraction of the Year Award

Derby Museums is pleased to announce its Museum of Making has been shortlisted for Visitor Attraction of the Year in the Peak District, Derbyshire & Derby Tourism Awards. The award recognises visitor attractions that provide truly memorable visitor experiences and demonstrate excellence across every aspect of the business. Organised by VisitPeak District & Derbyshire in collaboration with Visit Derby, the Peak District, Derbyshire & Derby Tourism Awards are a celebration of the passionate, hardworking and distinctive businesses who continually raise the bar of the areas world-class tourism offer. The awards showcase excellence and outstanding achievement across the area’s tourism and hospitality sector, recognising the success and resilience of tourism businesses whilst highlighting the sector’s vital contribution to the local economy.

The Museum of Making opened its doors to the public in 2021 and is one of three museums in Derby operated by Derby Museums as an independent charitable trust. Uniquely designed and created by the people of Derby to tell the city’s 300-year history of making and innovation, the Museum of Making attracted over 90,000 visitors in its first year of operation, and over 122,000 in the last financial year, proving itself to be an attractive and invaluable heritage asset for Derby that sustains a range of learning and community development programmes. In a recent economic impact report, Derby Museums – including its Museum of Making – was shown to support Derby’s rich hospitality, leisure and tourism offer helping to generate an estimated £7m of tourism spend per year in the local economy, with £4 million of that from the Museum of Making.

Along with Visitor Attraction of the Year, Derby Museums’ Individual Giving Officer, Helena Smith Parucker, has been shortlisted for the Tourism Young Achiever Award. This award recognises and celebrates young people aged 16-25 in the tourism, leisure and hospitality industry who demonstrate commitment to developing personal skills and knowledge in order to progress their career within the industry.

Jennifer Cuadrado, Director of Development, said: “We’re delighted to be shortlisted as Visitor Attraction of the Year and it’s great to see Helena being recognised in the Young Achiever award for her excellent work for the museum, it’s fantastic to be able to support her early career.”

“We’re proud that the Museum of Making is becoming a well known tourist destination, attracting visitors to Derby and playing an important role in creating a vibrant tourism sector for Derbyshire.”

“We wish our fellow finalists – The Children’s Country House at Sudbury and Matlock Farm Park – good luck in the final round of independent judging before the winners are announced next year.”

The nomination comes as the Museum of Making has been forced to temporarily close due to flood damage after the severe weather conditions of Storm Babet in late October. The Derby Museums team have been overwhelmed by the messages of support, generous donations and kind offers of help received from the local community and businesses since the Museum of Making flooded. Work is currently underway to reopen the Museum of Making as soon as possible.

The outpouring of support since the flooding has reinforced how valued the museum is in the region. This was exemplified in the findings of the recent Social Return On Investment (SROI) report, which found that the museum’s ethos of co-production and collaboration has had a significant impact on the social and economic wellbeing of the city and community.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Museum of Making on 7th March 2024.

https://derbymuseums.org/news/museum-of-making-in-derby-shortlisted-for-visitor-attraction-of-the-year-award