Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards

2010 saw the 22nd annual awards ceremony, hosted by Snibston Discovery Museum.

In addition to County Council funding, the awards are kindly sponsored by Renaissance East Midlands .

This award rewards a museum that has produced an outstanding exhibition or display, either at the museum itself or in another venue. Exhibition in this category could also be virtual exhibitions available on the Internet. Past winners have included exhibitions on the history of Leicester City Football Club, framework knitting, whitwick colliery, and what life was like life growing up in World War 2.

This category rewards an organisation that has held an outstanding event. This could include open days, galas, or special events with school children. Winners have included an open day at Ullesthorpe windmill, and Rutland Railway Museum, who participated in the 'Living Museum' event at St James' Park in London in 2005 to celebrate the anniversary of the end of World War 2.

A whole range of projects have been entered into this category in the past including the complete refurbishment of museums, the creation of online museums, building new education facilities, the restoration of railway vehicles, the creation of oral history recordings and projects concentrating on documentation of historic collections and the creation of educational materials

This category seeks to reward the organisation that has made most progress in provision for children and young people. In particular, it rewards organisations where cultural and organisational change has taken place that ensures that children and young people become involved in the planning and delivery of cultural provision.

The Collections Care & Development category recognises that collections are essential to the work of a museum and that the appropriate care, documentation and development of collections is necessary for a museum to effectively utilise its collections to deliver community benefit through its projects and activities.

This awards is judged from the entries to all other categories. It is awarded to the museum that is judged to have made the most significant progress over the past year. Awarded for the first time in 2006, the prize was won by Ashby Museum following a complete refurbishment project which included renewing displays and the building of an education room and storage space.