V&A staff are eager to impress Museum of the Year judges

TOURISM: Officials from award scheme will visit Dundee to see facility’s effect

V&A management and staff will seek to impress judges from a prestigious competition when they visit Dundee today.

The waterfront design museum is one of five nominees in the running to be named Museum of the Year 2019.

As part of its work to impress the judges, the V&A will demonstrate how it has influenced the city’s communities.

One of the examples of community engagement to be put before the panel will be a souvenir badge designed by local girlguiding members, depicting the V&A and the RRS Discovery.

Laura Morrison, a Brownie leader, said: “We had an old county badge that had a picture of the Discovery on it. It’s a souvenir badge for our area.

“One of the volunteers who runs our local depot in Dundee had taken a picture of the V&A when it was built, with the Discovery also in the picture.

“We thought it would be good to update our badge, so we had a new badge made, based on this photograph.

“The V&A were interested in getting some to show them off. We’re hoping there might be a possibility for them to be sold in the V&A gift shop, but we’ll see.

“If it happens, it will be great. “The kids were so excited that people were taking an interest.”

Other nominees in the Art Fund Museum of the Year competition are HMS Caroline in Belfast, Nottingham Contemporary, Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford and St Fagan’s National Museum of History near Cardiff.

The winner will receive a £100,000 prize with the four runners-up each getting £10,000.

Members of Girlguiding Dundee have created a new badge, featuring the V&A and the Discovery.