The Lincolnshire Heritage Awards 2014 – a fabulous evening of celebration at Gainsborough Old Hall, on Thursday 11 July 2014.
85 guests attended the bi-annual Lincolnshire Heritage Awards at a ceremony in the magnificent setting of Gainsborough Old Hall. It was a beautiful summer evening and the Great Hall looked stunning set out with gilt chairs and fine table linen. The event began with drinks and canapés provided in style by Black Peppermint, then the ceremony began.
The Awards are run by the Lincolnshire Heritage Forum and celebrate all the wonderful work taking place in museums, historic houses and heritage sites across the county and reward best practice. This year the Forum re-launched the Awards with new categories chosen by Forum members at their AGM last November.
The Judges
The Awards were judged in June by David Sleight (Dean of Public Engagement, University of Lincoln), Emma Tatlow (Visit Lincoln Partnership Manager) and Steve LeMottee (Executive Director at East Midlands Museums Service). The Judges all took part in the ceremony sharing their thoughts on all the projects that they had looked at and presenting some of the plaques and certificates. Three of this year’s Awards were sponsored by local organisations and representatives of those organisations presented certificates and plaques to the winners of their Awards. 11 organisations entered a total of 15 projects for the Awards this year.
The Awards were funded by the Lincolnshire Heritage Forum and Museum Development East Midlands and six sponsors: Gainsborough Town Partnership (sponsored the Best Volunteer Project Award), Community Lincs (sponsored the Best Exhibition Award), Visit Lincoln Partnership (sponsored the Inspiration Award), West Lindsey District Council; East Lindsey District Council and North Kesteven District Council.
The ceremony started with a welcome to all the guests from Victoria Mason Hines, Site Coordinator, at Gainsborough Old Hall. Then Jackie Goodall, Chair of the Lincolnshire Heritage Forum gave the opening speech, welcoming guests, describing the role of the Lincolnshire Heritage Forum and thanking Lincolnshire County Council for kindly allowing the Forum to use Gainsborough Old Hall for the evening, the six award sponsors, Museum Development East Midlands, the judges, Rod Whiting, Mick Fox the photographer, David Weight who had produced the plaques and certificates, Black Peppermint, the Lincolnshire Heritage Forum Committee and Anita Hollinshead for coordinating the Awards.
Master of Ceremonies for the night was Rod Whiting, Senior Broadcast Journalist at BBC Radio Lincolnshire; he did a marvelous job of both ensuring the evening ran smoothly and entertaining the guests. The Ceremony was to finish at 8.40pm and Rod said his final word at 8.39pm!
Award winners received a plaque and those that are highly commended will receive a framed certificate.
The Winners were…
(1) Best Volunteer Project
Winner – Alford & District Civic Trust for ‘Alford Remembers 1914-1918’
Highly Commended – Woolsthorpe Manor, National Trust for ‘The Light Workshop’
(2) Young People in Heritage
Winner – Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre for ‘Caistories’
(3) Best Exhibition
Winner – The Collection & The Sir Joseph Banks Society for‘ Joseph Banks, A Great Endeavour – a Lincolnshire Gentleman and his Legacy’
Highly Commended – Alford & District Civic Trust for ‘Alford Remembers WW1 1914-1918’
(4) Best Project on a Limited Budget
Winner – Woolsthorpe Manor, National Trust for ‘A Woolsthorpe Wedding/Wedding Weekend’
(5) Inspiration Award
Winner – Lincolnshire County Council, Gainsborough Old Hall for ‘Gainsborough Old Hall Wall Painting Conservation & Access Project’
Highly Commended – Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum for ‘The Future of Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum’
(6) Best Use of Digital Resources
Winner – Market Rasen Business Improvement Group for ‘Market Rasen Virtual Heritage Tour’
(7) Judges’ Special Award
To Jackie Goodall for ‘an outstanding contribution to Lincolnshire Heritage’
(8) Judges’ Special Award
To Chain Bridge Forge for ‘outstanding community engagement’
(9) Excellence Award
Winner – Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum
Find out more
Take a look at the Lincolnshire Heritage Forum’s website for full details and photos from the evening at http://lincsheritageforum.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/it-was-a-fabulous-evening-of-celebration-at-gainsborough-old-hall-last-night/
For more information: please contact Anita Hollinshead, Coordinator of the Awards by calling her on 07876 166 742 or emailing anitahollinshead@hotmail.com
