The Power of Place: Midlands Museum Awards 2025 have now concluded, and it was a joy to celebrate the work, creativity and commitment of museums and heritage organisations from across the region. Thank you to everyone who entered and joined us at Thinktank, Birmingham for a day that highlighted the strength and ambition of our sector.
We’re pleased to share this year’s results:
Next Level Award
Winner: Melton Museum - ‘Villiers Revealed’ Exhibition
Highly Commended: Bilsthorpe Heritage Centre
Green Spark Award
Winner: Stourbridge Glass Museum
Highly Commended: Sir Joseph Banks Centre
Creative Collections Award
Winner: Mansfield Museum & Art Gallery
Highly Commended: West Midlands Police Museum
Inclusive Impact Award
Winner: Brampton Museum and Art Gallery
Highly Commended: Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum and Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings
Bridge Builder Award
Winner: International Bomber Command Centre
Highly Commended: Tamworth Castle Museum and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Judges’ Choice Award
Winner: Sir Joseph Banks Centre
All Round Excellence Award
Winner: Mansfield Museum
A huge congratulations to all winners and highly commended organisations. It was inspiring to celebrate the projects and teams that are helping shape the future of museums in the Midlands.
The Inclusive Impact Award
For the Museum project that has made the most impactful changes to improve inclusivity for communities or workforce.
This award recognises the Museum project, or team that has made a powerful impact in their approach to inclusivity. Whether through recruitment, improved workplace practices, accessibility, interpretation, collections research, visitor experience, or community engagement programming, this award celebrates museums welcoming new voices and underrepresented perspectives.
Our shortlisted museums for this category are:
Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings
Brampton Museum and Art Gallery
Leamington Spa Museum and Art Gallery
The Green Spark Award
Celebrating the most innovative or unexpected eco-friendly action, from zero-waste events and exhibitions to reimagining collections care with sustainable practise.
The Green Spark Award celebrates those Museums who are demonstrating sustainable practise at any level. From their approach to collections management approaches, to decisions about energy management and eco-friendly exhibitions, this award recognises work that raises awareness of climate issues in a creative way.
Our shortlisted museums for this category are:
The Creative Collections Award
This award celebrates museums that are demonstrating innovation and creativity in their collections and care practises. From volunteer-led collections projects, to reimagining new ways to tell important stories or detailed research, this award celebrates museums finding new and innovative ways to explore, care for, and manage their collections.
This award recognises innovation in collections management, care, access, research, and interpretation. It honours ambition in all its forms; recognising a museum team that took a creative risk, tried something new, or challenged conventions, to deliver an outstanding collections-based experience for the public and their team. We welcome applications from museums that have tried out new ways of working with objects, stories, or research. This could include experimental exhibitions, bold reinterpretations of collections, or innovative approaches to audience engagement. Behind the scenes, it might involve tackling documentation backlogs, undertaking store moves, or leading rationalisation projects.
This award celebrates brave thinking, high standards, volunteer input or the courage to push the boundaries of collections-focused museum practice.
Our shortlisted museums for this category are:
Next-Level Award
For the Museum or team that have embraced change, tested something new, or demonstrated innovation in their approach.
This award recognises Museums or teams who have adapted, evolved or worked hard to move their museum in a positive direction. This might involve testing a new audience engagement approach, a new visitor experience or trialing new operating models. This award recognises those who have brought innovation and creativity to their practise.
Our shortlisted museums for this category are:
Herefordshire Museum and Galleries
Bridge Builder Award
Celebrating outstanding partnerships that brought people, organisations, or communities together to create meaningful and impactful work that strengthens the Museum’s audience.
This award celebrates partnerships that have benefited by working collaboratively. This could be working successfully with other museums, local businesses, educational organisations, other tourist attractions to name a few.
The Bridge Builder Award recognises projects that brought people together in new and meaningful ways.
Possible projects could include a co-created exhibition or event, a partnership with a local school, working together with a local charity or business.
Our shortlisted museums for this category are:
International Bomber Command Centre
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