Plan UK and National Museums Liverpool win prestigious award for education project

Plan UK and National Museums Liverpool scoop 'Museums and Heritage award for excellence' 2008 for the Make the Link, Break the Chain development education project.

Sharon Goulds, Plan UK Head of Communications, collecting the award with Paul Khan, Director of Learning at National Museums Liverpool

The awards, which recognise and celebrate best practice within museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions, were announced at a ceremony in London on May 7 2008. Plan UK and National Museums Liverpool (NML) won the prestigious award for their collaborative anti-slavery project, 'Make the Link, Break the Chain'.

The project, timed to coincide with the bi-centenary of the abolition of slavery in the UK, involved linking children from Brazil, England, Haiti, Senegal and Sierra Leone to discuss and explore three key questions:

• What is slavery?
• What does it mean to be free?
• How can we safeguard liberty?

'Winning the International Award with NML was a great recognition of the partnership and of our work connecting children and young people across the world. The theme of slavery, what does it mean to be free, is not just about the past - the project enabled young people to examine, together, its legacy in the world they live in today,' says Sharon Goulds, Plan UK Head of Communications.

Through a nine-lesson plan, the pupils taking part in the proejct looked at the experiences of countries directly affected by the transatlantic slave trade and how this shared history has shaped their country. Participating students also examined contemporary slavery in its various forms using a number of case studies and looked at ways in which slavery can be tackled and prevented from happening in the future.

Building on the success

Plan UK and the and the National Museums of Liverpool are building on the success of 'Make the Link, Break the Chain' by launching a new international project on climate change this September. The project will involve 100 schools from 10 countries worldwide and aims to create links and promote cross-cultural learning between young people on environmental issues. Find out more about the new climate change educaton project or email us