The museum's work has been recognised and celebrated through a range of award wins, shortlists and nominations.
Shortlisted: Community Engagement Programme of the Year, for Nothing About Us Without Us
Museums +Heritage Awards 2023
The Museum + Heritage Awards celebrate the very best within museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions across the globe.
Winner: Museum of Sanctuary Award
City of Sanctuary, UK
The Museum of Sanctuary Award, presented by City of Sanctuary UK, recognises the inclusive and welcoming approach taken by People’s History Museum (PHM) towards people seeking asylum and refugees. It highlights the work the museum has done to explore and raise awareness of the theme of migration with communities and visitors and to actively demonstrate the positive contributions refugees make to our society. In doing so PHM has worked alongside local organisations that support refugees and asylum seekers and a Community Programme Team made up of individuals whose lives have been shaped by migration.
Shortlisted: Best Museums Change Lives Project, for Migration: a human story
Museums Change Lives Awards 2022
The awards recognise and celebrate outstanding practice by UK museums delivering social impact. They promote the best examples of work by museums and individuals that support communities and engage with contemporary issues.
Shortlisted: Museum of the Year 2022
Art Fund Prize 2022
Art Fund Museum of the Year, the world’s largest museum prize, celebrates the UK’s museums and galleries, and rewards their resilience, creativity and imagination.
Joint winner: Activist Museum Award 2021-2022
Activist Museum Awards 2021-2022
Awarded by the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG), part of the University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies. The award was launched in 2019 to ‘celebrate and foster activist thinking and practice in the UK museum community’. PHM is one of four winners awarded £1,000 each and tailored mentorship.
Shortlisted: Manchester Culture Awards 2021
Manchester Culture Awards 2021
Best Exhibition for Disrupt? Peterloo and Protest exhibition
Promotion of Culture and Education for Trapped in the Museum
Shortlisted: Children in Museums Award for PHM’s Family Friendly and Learning Programmes
Children in Museums Award
A joint venture between Hands On! and the European Museum Academy, the Children in Museums Award recognises excellence, creativity and innovation in exhibitions and programmes designed for children up to the age of 14 years.
Winner: Green Award for People’s History Museum and Open Kitchen’s partnership on Open Kitchen Cafe & Bar at PHM
Cultural Enterprises Awards 2021
Part of the Association for Cultural Enterprises, the Cultural Enterprises Awards celebrate creativity and resilience in the cultural sector.
Shortlisted: COVID Supplier of the Year, for PHM shop supplier Radical Tea Towel
Museums + Heritage Awards 2021
The Museum + Heritage Awards celebrate the very best within museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions across the globe.
Highly commended: Digital Campaign or Campaigner of the Year, for Vital Voters
Your UK Parliament Awards 2021
Your UK Parliament Awards celebrate the work of amazing people all over the UK who’ve made change happen by connecting with the UK Parliament.
Joint winner: Apprentice Award for Sipho Mangoye, PHM Apprentice (Digital Marketing & Fundraising)
MPA Inspiration Awards 2020
The MPA Awards recognise amazing talent across the city of Manchester to inspire future innovation and creativity.
Winner: “Toymark” Good Practice Award, for the PHM shop
Let Toys Be Toys
The Let Toys Be Toys “Toymark” recognises retailers that are doing a great job of offering toys and books in a way that is welcoming and inclusive to all children.
Shortlisted: Cross-Sector Digital Collaboration of the Year, for AIM Biffa Award History Makers Programme, developed in collaboration with the Creative AR & VR Hub at Manchester Metropolitan University to raise the profile of two important History Makers; Annie Besant and Jayaben Desai
Digital Leaders 100 Awards
The DL100 list is created by public vote and celebrates the teams and individuals who are working hard behind the scenes to secure the UK’s digital transformation.
Finalist: Best Exhibition, Represent! Voices 100 Years On
Manchester Culture Awards 2019
Celebrating people, groups and organisations who made a creative buzz in Manchester during April 2018 to March 2019.
Winner: “Toymark” Good Practice Award, for the PHM shop
Let Toys Be Toys
The Let Toys Be Toys “Toymark” recognises retailers that are doing a great job of offering toys and books in a way that is welcoming and inclusive to all children.
Winner: Best Cultural Venue
The Manchester Awards 2019
Aimed at celebrating everything that is great about the city, the Manchester Awards are designed to reward those individuals, businesses and organisations that have proved themselves to be indispensable to the city’s success.
Commended by the judges: Best Contribution to a Heritage Project by Young People, People’s History Museum and Falinge Park High School for their project exploring ideas of representation.
Historic England Angel Awards 2018
The Historic England Angel Awards celebrate the efforts of people taking action to champion their local heritage.
Winner: Best Exhibition, Never Going Underground: The Fight for LGBT+ Rights
Special Commendation: Best Performance, with Contact Young Company, She Bangs The Drums
Manchester Culture Awards 2018
Celebrating people, groups and organisations who made culture buzz in Manchester during April 2017 to March 2018.
Winner: Heritage, Museum, Library and Education Partnership Award, PHM in partnership with Manchester Secondary Pupil Referral Unit, for the artist-led project Who Represents Me; a bold, colourful and powerful piece of artwork featuring as part of the exhibition Represent! Voices 100 Years On.
The North West Cultural Education Awards 2018
These awards shine a light on those individuals, schools and organisations that have gone above and beyond in their work to bring the benefits of great arts and culture to the region’s children and young people – celebrating and championing best practice and innovation in the sector.
Winner: National Collaboration of the Year, for exhibitions Represent! Voices 100 Years On and Never Going Underground: The Fight for LGBT+ Rights
National Democracy Week Awards 2018
The National Democracy Awards, first held in the 100th year of the first women gaining the right to vote, highlight the work of national leaders in democratic engagement.
Runner up: Best for Free Activities
2018 Hoop Awards
Over 40,000 votes were cast in the 2018 Hoop Awards to find the UK’s favourite kids’ activities and celebrate the people and organisations that go above and beyond to entertain, educate and inspire children.
Shortlisted: Temporary or Touring Exhibition, for Never Going Underground: The Fight for LGBT+ Rights
Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2018
The Museum + Heritage Awards recognise projects of excellence, innovative and ground-breaking initiatives from galleries and visitor attractions across the UK and overseas.
Winner: “Toymark” Good Practice Award, for the PHM shop
Let Toys Be Toys
The Let Toys Be Toys “Toymark” recognises retailers that are doing a great job of offering toys to girls and boys alike.
Winner: Family Friendly Museum Award
Kids in Museums
The Family Friendly Museum Award is Britain’s only museum award where families pick the winner. Over 700 nominations from families and museums were whittled down to a shortlist of ten, which were then road-tested by family judges against the eight points in the Kids in Museums Mini Manifesto.
Winner: Volunteers in Museum Learning, for the Community Curators of Never Going Underground: The Fight for LGBT+ Rights
Marsh Christian Trust Awards 2017
This award is run in partnership with the British Museum and recognises the best and most innovative ways in which volunteers work within local and national museums and galleries to engage the public with collections and exhibitions.
Shortlisted: Museum of the Year
Shortlisted: Exhibition of the Year, for Ideas Worth Fighting For
Northern Soul Awards 2017
The Northern Soul Awards celebrate and reward cultural and artistic excellence in the north of England.
Winner: Volunteer Team of the Year for the Community Curators of Never Going Underground: The Fight for LGBT+ Rights
Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2017
The Museum + Heritage Awards celebrate best practice within the world of museums, galleries, cultural and heritage visitor attractions, attracting hundreds of entries which battle it out to win one of 11 prestigious awards.
Highly commended: Fundraisers of the Year for Sponsor a Radical Hero campaign
Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2016
The Museums + Heritage Awards celebrate best practice within the world of museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions, attracting hundreds of entries which compete to win one of several prestigious awards.
Award: Quality Food & Drink Accolade for The Left Bank cafe bar
VisitEngland Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme
VisitEngland Accolades are awarded in recognition of the quality visitor experiences on offer. Highlighting those elements that matter most to visitors, including the warm welcome on arrival, the presentation of the collections, the storytelling and the quality of the tea and cake, the accolades recognise those attractions going the extra mile to create an enjoyable and memorable visitor experience.
Winner: Museums + Heritage Awards 2015, Guardian Culture Pros Pick
Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2015
The annual Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence recognise projects of excellence, innovative and groundbreaking exhibitions from galleries and visitor attractions across the UK and Europe. Guardian Culture Pros Pick is an award for the UK’s most inspiring museum or heritage visitor attraction of the year, voted for by the public.
Commendation: Exhibition Design, for A Land Fit For Heroes by Modern Designers
The Drum Design Awards 2015
The Drum Design Awards recognise great design being produced by agencies across the whole of the UK, giving the opportunity for great craft, design and execution to be rewarded. The awards are open to all design consultancies, advertising agencies, digital agencies, creative agencies, media owners, in house teams, freelancers or clients who work within the design discipline.
Shortlisted: Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
Manchester Tourism Awards 2013
The Manchester Tourism Awards celebrates tourism excellence across Greater Manchester.
Silver Award: Environmental Business Pledge
Environmental Business Pledge
Organised by Manchester City Council in partnership with Groundwork, the Environmental Business Pledge is a free advice and award scheme designed to help organisations in Manchester improve their environmental performance and generate cost savings.
Shortlisted: Best not-for-profit website or campaign for ‘Ideas worth scanning’ with Vivid
Northern Marketing Awards 2013
Organised by Prolific North. Leading brands and organisations along with marketing, creative and digital agencies from across the north submit entries for 20 award categories.
Shortlisted: Museums + Heritage Readers’ Award
Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2012
The Museums + Heritage Awards celebrate best practice within the world of museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions, attracting hundreds of entries which compete to win one of 13 prestigious awards.
Special Commendation: European Museum of the Year 2012
European Museum Forum
Founded in 1977 under the auspices of the Council of Europe with the aim of recognising excellence in the European museum scene and encouraging innovative processes. The museum was one of only four museums in Europe to receive the accolade, reserved for the most innovative and enterprising museums in Europe.
Bronze Award: Environmental Business Pledge
Environmental Business Pledge
Organised by Manchester City Council in partnership with Groundwork, the Environmental Business Pledge is a free advice and award scheme designed to help organisations in Manchester improve their environmental performance and generate cost savings.
Award: People’s History Museum by Austin-Smith: Lord
Civic Trust Awards 2011
The Civic Trust Awards is an independent built environment awards scheme established in 1959 to recognise the very best in architecture, design, planning, landscape and public art.
Longlisted: Museum of the Year 2011
Art Fund Prize 2011
The Art Fund Prize 2011 rewards excellence and innovation in museums and galleries across the UK for a project completed or undertaken in 2010. The museum was one of only ten museums across the country that was successful in reaching the longlist.
Highly commended: Best marketing campaign category for the re-branding of People’s History Museum
Shortlisted: Best permanent exhibition category for the museum’s new galleries
Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2011
The Museums + Heritage Awards celebrate best practice within the world of museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions, attracting hundreds of entries which compete to win one of ten prestigious awards.
Shortlisted: Design & Innovation category
Shortlisted: Tourism & Leisure category
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards North West
The prestigious property-based contest celebrates inspirational initiatives in the land, property and construction sectors and 44 shortlisted projects from all over the North West were hoping to win one of nine coveted RICS accolades.
Winner: Building structures medium category by Curtins Consulting for People’s History Museum
ACE Engineering Excellence Award
The Engineering Excellence Awards recognise the very best that consultancy and engineering has to offer.
Shortlisted: Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
Manchester Tourism Awards 2011
The Manchester Tourism Awards celebrates tourism excellence across Greater Manchester.
Nominated: Best coffee shop or casual dining venue category for The Left Bank cafe bar
Manchester Food & Drink Festival Awards 2010
The Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards provide a benchmark for excellence in the hospitality industries throughout Greater Manchester.
Winner: Building of the Year Award
The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce awards are given in recognition of key construction projects in Greater Manchester.
Winner: Best website, not for profit/charity sector category for www.phm.org.uk
Drum Awards for the Digital Industries (DADIs)
The DADIs (The Drum Awards for the Digital Industries) recognise and reward digital excellence. These awards are open to any business, including agencies and clients, who are producing effective digital strategies.
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