Young Ambassadors will receive a certificate on behalf of Bradford Museums and Galleries after it achieved the prestigious National Youth Agency’s Hear by Right Bronze Award.
The award, which is one of only a handful given to museums across the country, recognises the commitment of the museum service to listen to and act on the views of young people and involve them in the decision making process.
The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Naveeda Ikram, will present the certificate to ten Young Ambassadors at the Hilton Hotel on Wednesday, 14 December.
In order to achieve Bronze level recognition, Bradford Council’s museum service has worked with a group of young people from across the city for the last six years. Initially they were involved as a consultation group on the Connect gallery refurbishment at Cartwright Hall, but more recently they have helped to curate the upcoming ‘Golden Threads’ exhibition.
The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Naveeda Ikram, said: "The certificate recognises the valuable contribution made by these Young Ambassadors and the commitment of Bradford Museums in placing young people's voices at the heart of its operations.”
Fatiha Alesinloye, a 19-year-old Young Ambassador from Heaton, said: "Receiving this award is a great sense of achievement and sets the standard for other museums to follow in our footsteps. I am proud to be a Young Ambassador and can’t wait to see where it takes us in the future.”
Fiona Blacke, National Youth Agency Chief Executive, said: "Embedding youth participation into the development of services is not only best practice, but vital to ensuring provision is relevant to local needs. Many congratulations on achieving our Bronze Hear by Right Award which really demonstrated your commitment to young people's active involvement within your organisation."
The ‘Golden Threads’ exhibition, which is linked to the London 2012 Olympics, will examine the city’s textile heritage as well as featuring new work created in response to Bradford Industrial Museum’s nationally recognised collections. A new worsted London 2012 inspired cloth is also being woven at the Museum that will be tailored into waistcoats designed by the Young Ambassadors.
The exhibition, which will open at Bradford Industrial Museum in May 2012, is one of a set of regional exhibitions taking place across Yorkshire next year called ‘Precious Cargo’. These will celebrate how communities and objects from across the world come to be part of Yorkshire’s heritage.
