11 is heaven for Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery has been awarded VisitEngland’s ‘Quality Assured Visitor Attraction’ accreditation for the 11th time in a row.

The Museum was recently inspected by an assessor for the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) and was described as ‘very professionally set out and managed with many excellent and varied exhibits and high standards of interpretation and information.’

VisitEngland is the national tourist board for England and manages the VAQAS scheme through a network of regional assessors, all of whom are recruited from industry. The scheme aims to shape the customer experience at visitor attractions across the country and puts each one through an annual assessment.

Following his visit to the Museum the assessor praised the ‘excellent visual elements and archives’ in the Plymouth: Port and Place gallery, the ‘well laid out’ Explore Nature gallery, the interactive, family-friendly Imagination Station, the style and quality of the interpretation and labelling, the range of installations and the overall standards of customer care.

The Museum’s brochure, promotional banners, prominently displayed signs and good use of social media were also commended in his report, as was its ‘vibrant and interesting’ programme of talks, tours, films and activities for children.

The ‘ARTIST ROOMS Gerhard Richter’ exhibition which was on display at the time of the inspection was described as ‘very professionally showcased and curated in a large and an impressive gallery’.

“We’re very pleased with the latest VAQAS report which praises many different elements of the Museum’s spaces and services,” said Deputy Council Leader, Peter Smith. “It’s another great achievement for our hard working staff. The positive comments about high standards of interpretation and visitor engagement also bode really well for the major History Centre project that everyone at the Museum is now working towards.”

The Museum’s permanent galleries feature thousands of objects dating back centuries, including paintings, porcelain, maritime heritage, natural history, world cultures and archaeology.

They are complemented by a large-scale events programme as well as a series of temporary exhibitions, many of which tour from national galleries in London and beyond.

The Museum is open from 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays. Admission is free. For more information call 01752 304774 or visitwww.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk