It was an exciting evening for the team at the 2025 Northamptonshire Heritage Awards – we won the Community Wellbeing Award for our outreach programme!

Our outreach events and activities have been enjoyed by thousands of people, across dozens of events, and it was a pleasure to have our hard work and dedication honoured at this year’s awards.

While the Museum and Gallery remain closed for renovation, we recognised an opportunity to turn this challenging period into a positive experience. We wanted to provide fun, creative ways for families to learn and discover Kettering’s collections. Our doors may be closed, but our passion for sharing the artworks and artefacts that we care for is as strong as ever.

We launched a free community outreach programme and over the last two years, have ensured local children and families could continue to access artefacts and artworks during our renovation projects. We went out and about to various locations around Kettering and Northamptonshire, encouraging wellbeing within the community, and spreading the word about Alfred East Gallery and Manor House Museum.

Excerpt from the Community Wellbeing Award application

Working closely with Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum, popular workshops and activity days were launched in ARTworks in the Newlands Centre. Staff, volunteers and artists from Kettering & District Art Society helped families to have fun and express their creative sides.

Elsewhere, we worked alongside our friends in Kettering Library at Kettfest in Manor House Gardens, and Kettering by the Sea in the Market Place. At Discover Northamptonshire, we shared the collections in pop-up exhibitions. We partnered with Kettering Town Council to support town initiatives, and we connected with schools at careers fairs.

Summer fun at Market Place, Kettering

The Museum and Gallery’s outreach, led by Emily Hayland (Learning & Engagement Officer) has been a great success for us. We’ve talked to so many people about the exciting future ahead, and it was such a joy for us to meet the public face-to-face once again.

We won! Our name on the big screen

The judges commended our efforts to allow access to the collections during closure, and how we have worked in close partnerships with other community organisations to deliver our events and activities.

Alfred East Gallery mascot, “Mini Alf”, with his latest award.

We are over the moon at this award – a big thank you to Northamptonshire Heritage Forum for honouring us. And an even bigger thank you to everyone who has taken the time to doodle with us, chat about the collections, and get messy with paint and glue.

Emily with our award, alongside (l-r) Matt Taylor (Heritage Manager), Billie Stevenson (Alfred East Gallery Manager), Adam Wallis (Heritage Officer), and Jo Archer (Heritage Officer).

The award was perfect timing… as we have just launched our summer outreach programme for 2025! Head over to our What’s On page for all the details.

Main Image: Emily Hayland (Learning & Engagement Officer), Barbara Lewis (the Friends), and Jo Archer (Heritage Officer) on stage to accept the award in Wicksteed Park’s Pavilion.