Durham Cathedral’s education team has won a national award which recognises excellence in educational programmes at heritage sites. The team won the prestigious Sandford Award thanks to the widening range of high quality learning activities the cathedral offers.
Durham Cathedral’s educational provision includes workshops and other activities within the cathedral’s main body, learning opportunities connected with the Open Treasure exhibition, various outreach programmes, and events staged in Durham’s woodlands and on its riverbanks.
Durham Cathedral offers educational opportunities for all ages and regularly hosts school parties and community groups, as well as welcoming individuals to the courses and events it lays on.
Charlotte Rowbotham, Durham Cathedral’s head of education, and Caroline Johnson, the cathedral’s learning officer, were presented with the award during a ceremony at Worcester Cathedral in November. Ms Rowbotham stated,
“I am delighted that the hard work of the education team here at Durham Cathedral has been recognised by the Sandford Award judges.”
“We have an experienced team who have created new and relevant resources and sessions for children and adults, including our popular toddler backpacks, available at the cathedral’s visitor desk, our Young Curators programme in Open Treasure, which allows young people to learn more about curating and our wonderful collections, study days, history and health walks on the riverbanks, and themed family fun events.”
Tip – the Open Treasure exhibition at #DurhamCathedral is excellent and you should visit it if you can. pic.twitter.com/FYK9VOFkam
— beatroute66 (@beatroute66) November 30, 2016
The work of the cathedral’s education team has benefitted from grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Lottery’s First World War: Then and Now fund. A number of other supporters have helped make their work possible, including the Magna Carter Trust, the Friends of Durham Cathedral, and the Durham Area Action Partnership.
The Sandford Award is an independently judged, quality-assured assessment of the educational programmes offered at heritage sites, museums, archives, collections, galleries, gardens and places of worship all around the British Isles. Since the scheme started in 1978, 350 such sites have been presented with a Sandford Award.
As well as rewarding educational provision linked to school curriculums, the Sandford Award also acknowledges the importance of less formal types of learning.
Anyone who would like to discover more about learning activities at Durham Cathedral or would like to book an educational visit, can go to www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/learning or phone 0191 3744 070.
Durham Cathedral has picked up a number of prestigious awards recently. Another prize the cathedral may win is the title of Britain’s Favourite Cathedral in the LandLove Magazine Awards.
