On Thursday 15 May 2025, Wellcome Collection received the inaugural Visitor Accessibility Award at the prestigious Museum + Heritage Awards, widely regarded as one of the leading honours in the UK cultural sector.

Image Description - The team at Wellcome Collection collecting the Visitor Accessibility Award at the Museums and Heritage Awards.

“We are incredibly honoured to receive this award,” said Melanie Keen, Director of Wellcome Collection. “This accolade, judged by our peers in the sector, is a powerful recognition of our work to place equity, access and inclusion at the heart of everything we do.”

The judges described Wellcome Collection as “a leading light in disability discourse in museums and is pushing the boundaries of what excellent, accessible exhibitions look like.”

Image Description - The team at Wellcome Collection collecting the Visitor Accessibility Award at the Museums and Heritage Awards. Director Melanie Keen stands on the right-hand side behind a lectern.

Accessibility and inclusion are at the core of Wellcome Collection and its venue hire offerings. The building is equipped with step-free access throughout, accessible toilets on each floor, and a Changing Places toilet. The venue hire team has undergone the Social Justice Curriculum, an internal program that delves into anti-racism and anti-ableism principles, ensuring best practices are upheld across the Collection. Furthermore, the events team recently completed deaf awareness training to help break down barriers for deaf audiences and collaborators, aligning with the themes of the current exhibition, "1880 THAT." (link to exhibition here)

Winning this prestigious award highlights Wellcome Collection's unwavering commitment to making accessibility, equity, and inclusion integral to all its activities, reflecting its vision for a world where everyone's experience of health matters.

For enquiries about hiring Wellcome Collection’s accessible and inclusive event spaces, please contact venuehire@wellcome.org.