Posted by:

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.

Posted by:

Frankly Speaking 2024

Read more
Posted by:

Hallfield Primary School Outreach Workshop: Inside Benjamin Franklin’s House

Read more
Posted by:

Frankly Speaking 2023

Read more
Posted by:

Literary Prize 2022 Winner and Runner-up 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;

‘The Eyes of other People are the Eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want neither fine Clothes, fine Houses nor Fine Furniture.’ Letter to Benjamin Vaughan, 1784.

We received some excellent entries to our 2022 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 – Daniel Bresland

Daniel is 23 and from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He has just begun a PhD in English Literature at Queen’s University Belfast.

Runner-up – George White

George is 25 and from Derbyshire, England. He is a graduate of Nottingham Trent University’s Centre for Broadcast and Journalism. He is currently the Editor of the Nottingham-based arts and culture magazine LeftLion, which has a readership of around 50,000.

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

In March 2023, 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 2022 Prize.

The 2022 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 2023 Literary Prize, please look out for announcements on our website. The quote for next year’s competition will be announced at the 2022 award ceremony and posted shortly after.