Museum gets rave review

15 July 2011

Once again Craven Museum & Gallery has been visited by a mystery shopper from the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) and received a very positive and complimentary report.

After a thorough assessment of all aspects of the museum (including the leaflet, website, gallery exhibition and museum displays) the report concluded that the museum was a “small, quality attraction, continually striving to improve the visitor experience, [with] enthusiastic, knowledgeable staff who engage well with the visitors”.

Being the first VAQAS review of the museum since the addition of the Shakespeare First Folio, museum staff where thrilled to find out that the new display was described as “very impressive” with the audio visual presentation being “absorbing and enjoyable”.

As in previous years, the only negative comments about the museum centre around the lack of signage for the museum on the outside of Skipton Town Hall. The assessor described the museum as “hidden” and suggested that “prominent signage is required externally”. The museum is very aware of this problem and has been striving for years to get permission to add attractive banners to the front of the Town Hall, which are also sympathetic to the heritage of the High Street. It is hoped that by the time of the 2012 VAQAS visit, consent will have been given to add this final finishing touch to an already quality attraction.