Wellcome Collection wins silver in Visit London’s Attraction of the Year awards

Wellcome Collection, the unique gallery and museum on London’s Euston Road that explores the relationships between medicine, life and art, has scooped a silver award at this year’s Visit London Awards ceremony.

Wellcome Collection was set up by the country’s largest medical research charity, the Wellcome Trust. Since it opened its doors in June 2007, it has attracted over 450 000 visitors.

Now in their fifth year, the Visit London Awards recognise and reward excellence in London tourism and also honour leaders in entertainment, creativity and innovation.

Wellcome Collection was competing against some of London’s best-known attractions, including the London Eye and the London Transport Museum. The ceremony took place at the Royal Albert Hall, and was introduced by London Mayor Boris Johnson.

“I am extremely proud in all we have achieved since opening Wellcome Collection in the summer of last year,” explains Clare Matterson, Director of Medicine, Society and History at the Wellcome Trust. “This award from Visit London has given us an enormous boost as we continue to grow as one of the leading cultural destinations on London’s map.”

Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes at the Wellcome Trust, commented: “I am absolutely thrilled we have won this award. Our first 18 months have been extremely diverse - covering aspects of the human condition from sleeping and dreaming to our attitudes towards life and death. Our current exhibition explores the relationship between war and medicine. I hope many more people will look in and see what Wellcome Collection has to offer.”

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Visit London’s Interim CEO Sally Chatterjee said: “The Visit London Awards celebrate the people and places that help make London the number one city destination in the world for international travel. We extend our warmest congratulations to all our winners. Tourism is one of London’s most vital industries and tonight we thank all those individuals and businesses for the outstanding contribution they make to the world’s most amazing city.”

See the full list of Visit London Award winners.

Wellcome Collection’s lively programme of challenging exhibitions and events - ranging from the ’Heart’, ’Sleeping & Dreaming’ and ’Life Before Death’ exhibitions through to debates, performances, and late-night events focusing on topics as diverse as organ donation, flesh, design, chronic fatigue syndrome and stem cell research - has captured the imagination of many and met with wide-reaching critical attention.

On November 22 2008, Wellcome Collection launched a major temporary exhibition - ‘War and Medicine’. The exhibition is a groundbreaking exploration of the continually evolving relationship between warfare and medicine, beginning with the disasters of the Crimean War in the 1850s and continuing through to today’s conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

Free to all, Wellcome Collection explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The building comprises three galleries, a public events space, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop, conference facilities and a members’ club.