- Visit the UK’s best museum for families in East London this October half term!
- The recently reopened museum, which was co-designed with local children, has been named the best heritage site in the country for families at an awards ceremony in Yorkshire today (8 October 2024).
Young V&A has received national recognition for its work to welcome children and families.
Run by charity Kids in Museums, the national award is presented to one museum, gallery or heritage site in the UK that provides a great visitor experience for families. Young V&A was shortlisted in the Best Large Museum category, going onto the win the category and the overall Family Friendly Museum Award 2024.
Children from birth to Early Teens
Young V&A is a full-scale transformation of the former V&A Museum of Childhood. It is now a completely reimagined free museum dedicated to children from birth to early teens and their families. Co-design is at the heart of the museum – more than 22,000 local schoolchildren, families and community members were active, creative collaborators in the transformation of the building and its outputs, embedding family and community across the whole museum.
The Family Friendly Museum Award has become a benchmark for excellence in the heritage sector since it began in 2004. Each year Kids in Museums receives hundreds of public nominations, which are whittled down to a shortlist by an expert panel. Families then visit each shortlisted museum over the summer holidays to decide the winner.
The family judges who visited Young V&A were blown away by the museum’s overall design, community atmosphere and numerous interactive elements. Judges appreciated how the hands-on experiences allowed kids to learn and have fun simultaneously, with children keen to return to the museum in the future. Families also noted the helpfulness of the staff, who encouraged children to ask questions and interact with the exhibits throughout the museum.
One family judge said: “My children absolutely adored this museum. They have requested that we return immediately! I could also see that local parents use it as a meeting place to socialise and it had a lovely community feel to it.”
Another judge said: “Young V&A is an impressive museum that every parent should take children to. It is very interactive and offers a number of exhibits for kids to get involved in and with. Staff are very helpful and encourage kids to ask questions and embrace the environment.”
One of the children who nominated the museum for the award said: “I feel like this is a very hopeful museum! It made me smile.”
Alongside Young V&A, all the museums on our shortlist and our category winners deserve recognition for the incredible work they continue to do for and with children, young people and families. I am thrilled we have this opportunity to celebrate all their achievements.”
The Family Friendly Museum Award has been made possible by funding from Arts Council England. Follow the Family Friendly Museum Award on social media by following the hashtag #FamilyFriendlyMuseum.
Announced in Yorkshire on Tuesday 8 October, all the winners in the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award 2024:
Winner: Best Large Museum + Overall Winner
Winner: Best Small Museum
National Civil War Centre, Newark
Winner: Best Medium Museum
Winner: Best Accessible Museum
Winner: Best Museum Youth Group
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