National Science and Media Museum’s Bradford Digital Creatives Project wins Best Use of Digital
Winners of the annual Museums + Heritage Awards sponsored by Altair Media Ltd were revealed last night (Wednesday, May 13, 2026) at Hilton Park Lane, London. The global awards celebrate the very best in the world of museums, galleries, and cultural and heritage visitor attractions
This year’s winners in the 19 categories reflected the diversity of the Museum and Heritage sector, and came from all over the United Kingdom including London; Bradford; Cambridge; Birmingham; North Yorkshire; Worcestershire; Norwich; Derbyshire; Gloucestershire; Leicestershire; Stowmarket; Manchester and Hampshire as well as museums and other cultural organisations in Malta and the Netherlands. They had been chosen by an independent panel of nine judges, who are all well-known in the museum’s world.
The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford won in the Best Use of Digital (UK) category for the Bradford Digital Creatives project. The pioneering project has reached more than 3,000 students across ten schools in the district – building digital skills, confidence and aspirations for future careers in the creative industries.
Backed by Arts Council England, Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Bradford Council, the initiative engaged secondary school students from areas with historically low levels of arts engagement to co-create artwork with professional artists, including 360° film-making, soundscape recording, light art, Virtual Reality, and games design. Artwork produced was showcased in the Reel BFD: Digital Arts, Bradford Stories exhibition at the National Science and Media Museum in summer 2025, in participating schools, and even at the iconic Jodrell Bank planetarium. Delivered in partnership with Born in Bradford the project also contributed to the internationally significant Age of Wonder study – the world’s largest longitudinal research programme into adolescent health and wellbeing.
Sally Folkard, Head of Screen and Cultural Engagement at the National Science and Media Museum, said: “The success stories coming out of Bradford Digital Creatives are nothing short of inspiring – from a 14-year-old becoming a BAFTA Young Game Designers finalist after being inspired in a workshop, to a school launching its own student-led Games Design Club, and students uncovering talents that have shaped their future education choices. We also saw artists re-energised by the creativity and curiosity of the classroom – rediscovering the joy of their own practice through the eyes of a new generation. This mutual exchange is what made the project so powerful: it wasn’t just about delivering workshops, but about sharing experiences, building confidence, and forging sustainable relationships between education and culture.”
The Judges’ Special Recognition Award went to Shanaz Gulzar, the Creative Director, of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. She was presented with the award by Keith Merrin, one of the Judges and Director of Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums.
The most popular category for applications this year was Community Engagement Programme of the Year which had been narrowed down to six shortlistees with the final winner being the Horniman Museum and Gardens for All Eyes on Her!: Community Stewardship for Institutional Change. The judges commented that: “Our winner goes far beyond consultation to deliver genuine institutional change. It has placed Egyptian and diaspora communities at the heart of how their heritage is interpreted and is a transferable model of shared stewardship for the sector.”
The joint winners of Volunteer(s) of the Year went to Nick Ezra of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for the Punjab Registers Comparison Project, who the Judges said: was “an individual whose contribution far exceeded what was expected of an entire cohort of volunteers. His meticulous work has helped correct a long-standing historical injustice, ensuring those denied named commemoration are finally recognised.” While the other winners were from The Hovercraft Museum at Lee-on-Solent (Hampshire) Rising Above: 45 Volunteers Delivering a Nationally Significant Museum and described by the Judges as: “a community of 45 volunteers who, between them, keep a museum alive. Their resilience and quiet determination to steward an extraordinary collection for future generations makes them truly exceptional.”
One of the joint winners of the Sector Impact Award was Birmingham Museums Trust with their Citizens Jury. This award spotlights the people and organisations driving postive change, making a real difference to the sector and as the Judges explained: The project “is a genuinely ground-breaking initiative that set a landmark precedent for the entire sector, already inspiring others to follow suit. This is what it looks like when a museum becomes a truly democratic civic institution.”
Anna Preedy, Director of Museums + Heritage Awards commented: “This year we received a record number of entries to the Awards, which has been fantastic to see. I was particularly struck by how significant the Community Engagement category has become. Museums and cultural organisations increasingly act as welcoming spaces at the heart of their locality, and it has been inspiring to see how many projects have been developed in genuine collaboration with those communities. Importantly, they have placed community voices front and centre and have opened up dialogue and space for stories to be shared in ways that are imaginative, inclusive and far less prescriptive.”
See full list of winners https://awards.museumsandheritage.com/2026-winners/
