Celebrating the winners of the Museums Change Lives Awards

Equitable Partnership Award 

Horniman Museum and Gardens with partners, creatives and young people: The Great Kingdom of Benin 

Following the return of ownership in 2022 of 72 looted belongings from the Benin Kingdom, the Horniman Museum worked with communities on updating the museum’s permanent display. 

This approach is part of a long-term commitment to working with, rather than for, communities. The project was guided by six Nigerian and Nigerian-diaspora community members as co-curators. Across four paid consultation workshops, the group agreed on the project plan and which belongings should be displayed, co-wrote the interpretation text and set the design brief.  

The co-curators also led on the brief for a short film. Directed by Nigerian-British filmmaker Eden Igwe, it features a child with Benin ancestry connecting with their heritage through material from Benin City. Collaborators and creatives also worked on a graphic wallpaper for the exhibition and the museum’s first international artist residency. 

The new display, The Great Kingdom of Benin, opened in December 2024 with an event attended by members of the Benin royal family.  

Evaluation by an external curator highlighted that the co-curators had an overwhelmingly positive experience, and also noted that the project addressed and reinterpreted the colonial legacy of the Horniman’s founding collection. 

What the winner said 
“I’m Korantema Anyimadu, one of the curators of anthropology at the Horniman. This would have been impossible without all the partners that we work with. The beautiful film you saw was directed by British-Nigerian filmmaker Eden Igwe  and we had an artist called Osaru Obaseki  visit, as well as loads of schoolchildren. The whole thing was a massive group effort so I’m giving this award virtually to all of them as well.”  

Judges’ comments 
The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a strong example of an organisation holding long-term equitable partnerships and continuing to build on existing relationships.  

Shortlisted 

• British Library with Leeds Children’s Services – Leeds Children’s Social Work Services/British Library Partnership 
• National Museums Liverpool, with Spirit Level, GYRO, Sahir and LGBT Foundation – Trans Day of Visibility 2025 
• The Postal Museum with Dollar fo’ Dollar, Caribbean Social Forum and Royal Mail Culture Bearers – Voices of Resistance: Slavery and Post in the Caribbean 

Radical Changemaker Award 

Elizabeth Scott, Head, Guildhall Art Gallery 

Social impact has been a focus of Elizabeth Scott’s career, from programming and collections to audiences and the workforce.

Her leadership of the Revealing the City’s Past project at London’s Guildhall Art Gallery, to reinterpret two controversial statues, is a recent example of her collaborative and inclusive style – she designed it to amplify the voices of those most affected by the statues of slave traders William Beckford (1709-70) and John Cass (1661-1718). 

Over three years, she assembled a team of contributors, mostly from the Caribbean diaspora, and collaborated with 41 partners. An intergenerational panel and accessibility panel were consulted. Community voices were an essential part of the project, and accessibility was embedded as a principle.  

Scott is also a champion for workforce change. As head curator at the London Transport Museum from 2014 to  2017, she created a more representative curatorial department. 

At the gallery, visitor numbers have seen a 30% increase overall in footfall per year since she joined in 2017 (from fewer than 90,000 visitors to more than 121,000). As a result of her artistic direction, the gallery’s audience profile has changed. Some 42% of visitors are now aged 25-45, compared with 14% in 2016-17, and 12% are from the global majority compared with 3%. 

What the winner said 
“Thank you, I’m deeply honoured to receive this award. Thank you to the Museums Association, to the judges and to my team at the gallery. Thank you, too, to the wonderful nominees I was with. I want to thank everyone who worked with me on the project– the steering group, Sam Allen, Errol Francis and Angela Billings, the intergenerational panel, the accessibility panel, all of the artists and creators. You really reclaimed the narrative.”  

Judges’ comments 
The judges thought Elizabeth’s work to lead changes in culture, workforce and ways of working across two organisations has had a massive impact in creating more representative workforces and audiences. 

Shortlisted 

• Afia Yeboah, V&A East 
• Jenny Durrant, Consultant 

Best Museums Change Lives Project 

Birmingham Museums Trust: Citizens’ Jury 

Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT) launched the UK’s first museum Citizens’ Jury, giving power to people of the city to answer the question: “What does Birmingham need and want from its museums, now and in the future; and what should BMT do to make these things happen?” 

It brought together a diverse group, matched to Birmingham’s demographics across multiple measures, giving them tools to collaborate, with power to shape the trust’s future. The jury provided a thoughtfully facilitated space where jurors could exchange opinions, experiences, ideas and knowledge. 

Jurors produced 11 roles and 20 recommendations for BMT, directly informing the trust’s five-year plan and beyond. Many have committed to working with the museum for a further 18 months, including contributing to the development of an exhibition about the jury.  

Participation prompted personal growth, furthered public engagement and a tangible shift in participants’ perception of museums, repositioning BMT from a passive repository to an active civic actor. 

What the winner said 
“On behalf of the jury and on behalf of Birmingham Museums Trust, I’d like to say thank you very much for this award. Personally, I’d like to thank the trust for allowing us the privilege of deciding on how Birmingham should treat its citizens in terms of the museum in future and for the ongoing work that we’re going to do with them. So, thank you very much. And a huge thank you to Shared Futures.” 

Judges’ comments  
BMT’s Citizen’s Jury impressed the judges with its democratic approach to community engagement that engaged the local community beyond those who were already visiting and delivered a lasting impact. 

Shortlisted 

• Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery – Early Bird Explorer Breakfast Club 
• Mansfield Museum – Green Power 

Best Small Museum Project 

Timespan (Helmsdale Heritage and Arts Society): The People’s Mobile Archive 

The People’s Mobile Archive (PMA) is Timespan’s outreach programme tackling rural isolation, health inequalities and cultural exclusion in East Sutherland.  

Developed during Covid recovery, it brings collections, digital tools and creative resources to marginalised groups – older people, carers, refugee families, those with mobility or mental health challenges – through home visits, activity packs and low-barrier public programmes. 

Co-designed with local communities and cross-sector partners, the PMA delivers oral history sessions, intergenerational podcasts, climate justice reading groups, film screenings, and collection-based memory work.  

The project has demonstrable impact: participants report increased connection, confidence and memory recall. It shows how small museums can meet environmental  and social needs through collaboration, care and collections – transforming heritage into a tool for justice and recovery. 

The pilot reached more than 800 older participants across Helmsdale, Loth, Kildonan and surrounding areas. Formal evaluation showed reduced isolation, improved mood and stronger social bonds. Feedback evidenced a strong appetite for continued, co-created engagement and cultural participation.  

Where formal provision is limited, the PMA demonstrates that cultural infrastructure can deliver long-term, place-based wellbeing outcomes through embedded, equitable and participatory practice. 

What the winner said  
“This is absolutely an honour. Thank you so much to the Museums Association, to the judges and congratulations to all the other nominees. I want to thank the rest of the team at Timespan, and a special thank you goes to Jackie Atkin who is the mastermind and powerhouse of everything heritage, especially the PMA. This award goes to our people, our community [who] make the project.”   

Judges’ comments 
The judges recognised the PMA as a fantastic project that had multiple outputs and outcomes and as an inspiring example of genuine co-production, making a real difference to communities in a rural area. 

Shortlisted 

• North Lincolnshire Museum – Documenting Northern Lincolnshire’s History 
• Stourbridge Glass Museum – Recycled glass sculpture workshops and Greener Glass exhibition 

MCL judging panel

Fadhili Maghiya
Chief executive officer, Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel 

Laura Humphreys
Curatorial lead (collections and digital), Science Museum Group 

Alistair Brown
Head of museums, libraries and archives policy, National Lottery Heritage Fund 

Rachael Rogers
Museums and arts manager, MonLife Heritage Museums and vice-president, Museums Association 

Sharon Heal
Director, Museums Association