Rt Hon Damian Green, MP for Ashford, received a warm welcome on Friday 5th April when he visited Ashford Museum. Housed in a 17th century Grade II listed building, the museum is in the Church Yard, at the Heart of Ashford’s Town Centre, and features exhibits associated with Ashford’s history.
Damian Green cutting the tape on the Museum’s Policing exhibit
The visits were organised by Visit Kent and took place on Tourism Constituency Day, when Damian Green showed his support for local tourism businesses in Kent as part of English Tourism Week and ahead of the Kent Big Weekend.
Kent Big Weekend is part of English Tourism Week, which highlights tourism as one of the fastest growing sectors in the national economy. This year the event has broken all its previous records with over 130 attractions coming together to donate more than 36, 000 tickets to local residents during the weekend event. Applications for tickets saw a 27% increase on 2018 with over 296,000 applications. The Kent Big Weekend website has had 1.4 million-page views during the campaign, which is a 15% increase on the previous year.
During his visit to Ashford Museum, Damian Green was meet by Richard Yeates, the Chair of the Museum Society and met Ian Sharp the Museum’s Curator. He was asked to open the Museums latest display of a “look at the local Police force” since its formation. Mr Green was shown various displays which show how the Borough of Ashford has grown since Saxon times.
Damian Green unlocking the ‘Lock-up’ that is part of the exhibit
Ashford Borough Museum is a regular supporter of Kent Big Weekend and donated almost 200 tickets to the campaign, so that local Kent residents could experience the attraction for themselves. The museum also created a guided heritage trail of Ashford Town Centre especially for the weekend – a one-hour walk taking in some of the historic buildings and locations in the town centre, starting and finishing at the Museum itself. There was also a Children’s University Quiz Activity for families to enjoy.
The facility welcomes around 4000 visitors a year and is involved with out-reach at local schools and groups. Ashford Museum, which is now in its 30th year is proud that it obtained a full accreditation from the Arts Council of England for the way that it runs the Museum and looks after the exhibits. For the last five years it has been involved in running the “Wheels of Time” scheme which encourages children of junior school age to study their local heritage. Full details are available on the Museum’s web-site www.ashfordmuseum.org.uk.
Richard Yeates, Chairman Ashford Museum Committee, said: “Ashford Museum was delighted to welcome or local MP, Damian Green, to visit us on 5th April. It is a most exciting time for the museum as we plan for major growth and a relocation to larger premises with potentially fantastic opportunities. I am so pleased the volunteers, stewards, committee and trustees are receiving the recognition of such a visit. Their hard work is tireless and of such value to the local community.”
Damian Green commented, “Ashford has many attractions for tourists, and it is important to draw attention to one of them – the town’s Museum. Too many people walk past it without noticing, and I am delighted to use English Tourism Week to publicise everything the Ashford Museum has to offer.”
Rt Hon Damian Green, MP for Ashford, received a warm welcome on Friday 5th April when he visited Ashford Museum. Housed in a 17th century Grade II listed building, the museum is in the Church Yard, at the Heart of Ashford’s Town Centre, and features exhibits associated with Ashford’s history.
The visits were organised by Visit Kent and took place on Tourism Constituency Day, when Damian Green showed his support for local tourism businesses in Kent as part of English Tourism Week and ahead of the Kent Big Weekend.
Kent Big Weekend is part of English Tourism Week, which highlights tourism as one of the fastest growing sectors in the national economy. This year the event has broken all its previous records with over 130 attractions coming together to donate more than 36, 000 tickets to local residents during the weekend event. Applications for tickets saw a 27% increase on 2018 with over 296,000 applications. The Kent Big Weekend website has had 1.4 million-page views during the campaign, which is a 15% increase on the previous year.
During his visit to Ashford Museum, Damian Green was meet by Richard Yeates, the Chair of the Museum Society and met Ian Sharp the Museum’s Curator. He was asked to open the Museums latest display of a “look at the local Police force” since its formation. Mr Green was shown various displays which show how the Borough of Ashford has grown since Saxon times.
Ashford Borough Museum is a regular supporter of Kent Big Weekend and donated almost 200 tickets to the campaign, so that local Kent residents could experience the attraction for themselves. The museum also created a guided heritage trail of Ashford Town Centre especially for the weekend – a one-hour walk taking in some of the historic buildings and locations in the town centre, starting and finishing at the Museum itself. There was also a Children’s University Quiz Activity for families to enjoy.
The facility welcomes around 4000 visitors a year and is involved with out-reach at local schools and groups. Ashford Museum, which is now in its 30th year is proud that it obtained a full accreditation from the Arts Council of England for the way that it runs the Museum and looks after the exhibits. For the last five years it has been involved in running the “Wheels of Time” scheme which encourages children of junior school age to study their local heritage. Full details are available on the Museum’s web-site www.ashfordmuseum.org.uk.
Richard Yeates, Chairman Ashford Museum Committee, said: “Ashford Museum was delighted to welcome or local MP, Damian Green, to visit us on 5th April. It is a most exciting time for the museum as we plan for major growth and a relocation to larger premises with potentially fantastic opportunities. I am so pleased the volunteers, stewards, committee and trustees are receiving the recognition of such a visit. Their hard work is tireless and of such value to the local community.”
Damian Green commented, “Ashford has many attractions for tourists, and it is important to draw attention to one of them – the town’s Museum. Too many people walk past it without noticing, and I am delighted to use English Tourism Week to publicise everything the Ashford Museum has to offer.”