Rebranded Te Awamutu ‘museum’ retains gold tourism standard

Te Awamutu Museum, Education and Research Centre staff, from left: administrator Trish Seddon, education facilitator Kerrin Carr, director museums and heritage Anne Bluthe and host Kasandra Hart-Kaumoana welcome news the new facility has retained the Gold Qualmark. Photo / Dean Taylor

Te Awamutu’s Museum, Education and Research Centre has retained its prestigious Gold Qualmark award for the second consecutive year.

Qualmark is the official quality measure of quality for New Zealand tourism businesses. It is assessed against criteria including health and safety, cultural awareness, marketing and more.

Museum, Education and Research Centre director Anne Blyth said her team was delighted to have retained the rating, despite a tumultuous 10 months.

In October last year, the Waipā District Council-owned museum was forced to close following a seismic assessment which showed the building would be vulnerable in an earthquake.

Since then, the museum has rebranded with a stronger focus on education and research, setting up in a leased building on Rickit Road in Te Awamutu.

Staff are now strongly focused on education-centred services, emphasising Waipā's history.

They continue to provide specialist learning sessions via an education contract with the Ministry of Education.

Anne said that while the past 10 months had been challenging, staff continued to uphold exceptionally high standards in terms of what they offered and delivered to the wider community.

“We are a small facility, but a very good one, and that has been recognised in many ways. But to retain this Gold Qualmark Award really is wonderful recognition of the work we do and what we are trying to achieve.”

In its report, Qualmark said it has broadened the scope of its evaluation criteria “to recognise those businesses that are focused on protecting what makes New Zealand unique and special”.