North Down Museum is delighted to have retained its full accreditation status after recently under-going a rigorous assessment process. The Accreditation Scheme is administered by the Arts Council of England in partnership with the Northern Ireland Museum Council which sets nationally agreed standards for museums in the UK. It defines good practice and encourages museums to constantly improve and develop the service they provide, to reach the highest professional standards, with regards to both the collection and visitors.
Accreditation is a gold standard which allows North Down Museum to attract high value loans and to access funding to create better programming. It requires the museum to constantly examine and improve its security, the collection care standards, exhibition quality, visitor experience, the quality of its education programme and how the museum works with the community to educate, interpret and collect.
North Down Museum was last assessed for accreditation in 2017 and since then has made improvements to its gallery spaces, created a new education programme, launched a number of initiatives to increase accessibility to the museum and developed a programme of outreach to create stronger connections with communities throughout the Borough.
Speaking about the accreditation, The Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Jennifer Gilmour said: “I’m absolutely delighted that North Down Museum has retained its official accreditation status. The museum’s commitment to governance, collections care and visitor experience has ensured maintenance of this standard. This is a credit to all of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at the museum. Well done to all the staff.”
Arlene Matthews, North Down Museum Manager said; “Trust is essential to our work in the museum. It is crucial that members of the public and other organisations feel confident in the museum to care for their objects either through donations and loans, and to provide the highest quality interpretation of the history they represent. Maintaining accredited status shows the museum’s commitment to continue that relationship with the community.”