Councillor Eileen Lintill believes the visitors who flock to Chichester’s Novium Museum deserve a pat on the back for playing such a huge part in its success.
Some 55,000 people visited the award-winning museum last year alone and folk will have the chance to help the museum celebrate its birthday on July 8 when it turns five years old. Visitors will be able to take part in craft activities, handling objects and “space Saturday” interactive demonstrations, inspired by the city’s very own space hero Tim Peake.
The Novium Museum officially opened its doors on Sunday, 8 July 2012, and has seen huge change since its opening, including the introduction of free admission in November 2014, exciting exhibitions and a successful learning programme.
In the last year alone 2,291 pupils visited the museum for school learning sessions, and 706 children spent the night at the museum for a sleepover.
Councillor Lintill, Cabinet Member for Community Services at Chichester District Council says: “It has been fabulous to see the museum evolve over the past five years. The team of passionate and dedicated staff work exceptionally hard to engage members of the public with the heritage of Chichester District and we are very proud of what they have achieved.”
The museum has also won a host of awards, including “best temporary exhibition” at the national Museum & Heritage Awards for excellence, for the popular Tim Peake: An Extraordinary Journey exhibition.
As well as achieving accredited museum status 2014, The Novium became an official science centre last year, prior to the launch of Tim Peake: An Extraordinary Journey.
Eileen added: “The Novium is Chichester’s award-winning museum and visitor numbers are at an all-time high, with more than 55,000 visitors last year. Our free admissions policy has enabled the museum to be accessible to everyone, and I know that the team would like to thank its visitors for supporting them. I hope that as many people as possible will join them to celebrate what has been a fantastic five years.”
The Novium Museum will be open from 10am to 5pm. Space Saturday demonstrations will run 10am to 2pm. Craft activities and handling objects will run from midday until 4pm.
