The new Lancashire Police Museum has been nominated for a prestigious local business award.
It has been nominated in the “Visitor Attraction of the Year” category in the 2022 Love Lancaster Business Awards, alongside Lancaster Escape Rooms and The Dukes Lancaster.
The awards, hosted by Lancaster BID in partnership with Holdens Law with support from Lancaster City Council, recognise employees and businesses that go that extra mile to contribute to making Lancaster city centre a better place for everyone to live, work, invest and visit.
The Police Museum, housed within a former prison wing at Lancaster Castle, opened its doors to the public in June and has already welcomed thousands of visitors of all ages.
It features 16 fascinating exhibits each housed within a prison cell. Displays detail the history of Lancashire Constabulary, Police training, forensic development – including how some very famous local cases were solved – and an overview of some of the different police departments including the mounted branch, dog unit, underwater search unit and firearms.
There is also a mock custody suite with interactive exhibits, an area for children to try on uniforms and an area dedicated to modern day policing with information about opportunities to join the police either as a cadet, volunteer, police staff member or police officer.
Free to enter, it is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10.30 to 4pm with staffing by volunteers.
Commenting on the award nomination, Museum Co-ordinator Sabine Skae said: “We are delighted to have been nominated for these prestigious local awards.
“A lot of hard work has gone into creating the museum in order to celebrate the Constabulary’s history and provide the public with an opportunity to find out more about policing in Lancashire.
“We’re really pleased that people are enjoying visiting the museum and very excited to have been nominated for this award.”
Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden said: “It's fantastic for the police museum to be recognised as one of the top visitor attractions of the year and is testament to all the hard work of the staff and volunteers since opening top the public only a few months ago.
"The museum is an excellent resource for the county and provides the opportunity to educate people on how policing has changed, to learn more about their local police force and the challenges of policing today, as well as discovering more about its rich and proud history.
“The history of the building itself is truly fascinating and along with the vast array of exhibits, each with their own poignant story, it’s not to be missed.”
Winners will be revealed in November.
Anyone wishing to visit the museum can find out more on at [email protected] or follow the museum on Facebook and Instagram.
The Museum is also on the lookout for volunteers to join the team. If you’d like to find out more about volunteering please contact [email protected].