Top award for Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

VisitEngland Awards for Excellence see museum honoured.

VisitEngland Gold Award presentation 11 May 15 for names see release (1)

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has won the top Gold Award in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category of the prestigious VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2015. Intended for venues that welcome more than 50,000 visitors per annum, it was judged on the overall quality of the experience provided.

The awards were announced at a glittering ceremony held on Monday, 11th May at Sage Centre in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2015 celebrate the best of English tourism. They promote healthy industry competition and high standards, helping to ensure England’s place as a world-class destination. This year, they attracted 345 applications.

Delighted with the award, Anna Brennand, Chief Executive Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust commented: “It was a great achievement to once again reach the finals of these prestigious awards, as this positions us amongst the best tourist attractions in the country. Trustees, volunteers and staff are all delighted that we have received the Gold award, which is a wonderful testament to all their hard work over the years”.

Commenting on the Award James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said; “We received hundreds of applications of an exceptionally high quality making the competition for a Gold Award extremely tough. It is therefore a tremendous achievement for the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust to win a Gold Award, the highest accolade for Excellence in Tourism which VisitEngland can bestow. They have raised the bar for excellence for others to aspire to and I warmly congratulate them on their exemplary contribution to tourism in this country.”

The ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums are spread across six square miles of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, together attracting over half a million visitors per year.

Further details about the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust can be found on www.ironbridge.org.uk