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Sandford Awards 2024: Benjamin Franklin House

We are delighted to announce that the education programme at Benjamin Franklin House has been awarded a Sandford Award by the Heritage Education Trust.

The Sandford Award is the quality mark for heritage learning and validation for heritage organisations across the British Isles that offer a formal learning programme which supports the relevant curriculum.

Our provision was assessed by an expert judge who visited the House earlier this year to observe our schools programme in action and learn about our exciting range of learning opportunities including our outreach programme, family programme and extra-curricular activities.

The Sandford Award, which is valid for five years, was awarded in September 2024. This marks the fourth time that learning at Benjamin Franklin House has been recognised by the Heritage Education Trust, having also been awarded in 2009, 2014 & 2019.

As part of their assessment, each judge produces a detailed report on their findings that not only highlights the incredible work being carried out in heritage sites across the UK and Ireland but also provides valuable feedback to enable outstanding programmes to continue to grow and develop their successes. We received some wonderful comments from our judge who wrote;

“The learning programme positions the House as a window into the past and a living backdrop to not only Franklin’s many and varied interests and activities, but also to a world stage where relations between America and Great Britain are being questioned and fought over. From the minute a school arrives at the House and uses the heavy knocker to gain access, it is evident that this is not an experience that could be achieved in the classroom.” – Sandford Award Judge, 2024.

We are proud to display our award onsite and online as a marker for excellence in heritage education and encourage other historic sites to consider making an application in 2025.

You can see the full list of sites awarded in 2024 here as well as their page on Benjamin Franklin House here.

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Frankly Speaking 2024

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Literary Prize Winner & Runner-up announced!

2023 Winner and Runner-up

Each year a question or quote exploring Franklin’s relevance in our time is open for interpretation in 1000-1500 words. The competition is exclusively for young writers, aged 18-25, with a first prize of £750, and a second prize of £500.

In 2023, our quote for interpretation was;

“Government must depend for its Efficiency either on Force or Opinion.” From ‘The Colonist’s advocate’, VII. (Feb 1, 1770)

We received some excellent entries to our 2023 Prize and we are proud to announce the names of the two young writers that were voted as the winner and runner-up by our team of judges;

Winner – Ciara Griffiths

Ciara is a 21-year-old Philosophy graduate of Royal Holloway University of London. She is currently volunteering for Oxfam and works as a Social Media Ambassador for BucksVision, a local charity supporting visually impaired people living in Buckinghamshire.

Judges comments:

Wendy Moore: “A very stylish piece of fiction with lots of tension and echoes of A Tale of Two Cities.”

Rory Sutherland: “an ingenious link to the French Revolution.”

Runner-up – Angus Brown

Angus is 24 and currently a third year doctoral candidate in History at the University of Cambridge. 

Judges comments:

Lord Guy Black: “A compelling essay, expertly written.”

Huw David: “Well researched, brilliantly structured, and a thought-provoking conclusion.”

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If you would like to read their entries for the 2023 Prize, please click on their names to view their work.

In May 2024, the winner, runner-up and other shortlisted writers were invited to Benjamin Franklin House for a special award ceremony to receive their prizes and meet the judging panel for the 2023 Prize.

We would like to congratulate those on our shortlist as well as everyone who entered this year’s Prize.

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2023 Literary Prize Shortlist Announcement

Each year a question or quote exploring Franklin’s relevance in our time is open for interpretation in 1000-1500 words. The competition is exclusively for young writers, aged 18-25, with a first prize of £750, and a second prize of £500.

This year, our quote for interpretation was;

‘Government must depend for its Efficiency either on Force or Opinion.’ From ‘The Colonist’s Advocate’, Vol VII. (1 February, 1770).

We received some excellent entries to our 2023 Prize and today we are proud to announce the names of the five young writers that have made it to our 2023 Shortlist. In alphabetical order, these are;

Angus Brown

Ciara Griffiths

Freya Graham

Georgina Arnold

Sam MacKley

If you would like to read any of the shortlisted entries for the 2022 Prize, please click on the writer names to view their work.

The winner and runner-up of the 2023 Literary Prize will be announced on the Benjamin Franklin House website on February 1st 2024, exactly 254 years since Franklin wrote this year’s quote.

In May 2024, the winner, runner-up and other shortlisted writers will be invited to Benjamin Franklin House for a special award ceremony to receive their prizes and meet the judging panel for the 2023 Prize.

The 2023 Literary Prize Judges are;

  • Dr. Márcia Balisciano, Director of Benjamin Franklin House
  • Lord Guy Black, Executive Director of the Telegraph Media Group
  • Wendy Moore, English journalist, author, and historian
  • Dr. Huw David, Development Director at Wolfson College, University of Oxford
  • Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group and Board Member of Benjamin Franklin House

We would like to congratulate those on our shortlist as well as everyone who entered this year’s Prize.

If you are interested in participating in our 2024 Literary Prize, please look out for announcements on our website. The quote for next year’s competition will be announced at the 2023 award ceremony and posted shortly after.