The Novium Museum is 5 years old

The Novium Museum will celebrate turning 5 years old with a day full of family activities.

On Saturday, 8 July visitors will be able to take part in craft activities, handling objects and Space Saturday interactive demonstrations.

The Novium Museum officially opened its doors on Sunday, 8 July 2012, and has seen huge change since its opening, including the introduction of free admission in November 2014, exciting exhibitions and a successful learning programme. In the last year alone, 2291 pupils visited the museum for school learning sessions, and 706 children spent the night at the museum for a sleepover.

Councillor Eileen Lintel, Cabinet Member for Community Services at Chichester District Council says; 'It has been fabulous to see the museum evolve over the past five years. The team of passionate and dedicated staff work exceptionally hard to engage members of the public with the heritage of Chichester District and to safeguard the future of the museum, and we are very proud of what they have achieved.'

The museum has also won a host of awards, the most recent including 'Team of the Year' at the Chichester Observer and Gazette Awards, and 'Best Temporary Exhibition' at the national Museum & Heritage Awards for Excellence, for the popular Tim Peake: An Extraordinary Journey exhibition.

As well as achieving Accredited Museum status 2014, The Novium became an official Science Centre last year, prior to the launch of Tim Peake: An Extraordinary Journey.

Cathy Hakes, Manager of the Novium Museum says 'The Novium is Chichester's award-winning museum and visitor numbers are at an all-time high, with more than 55,000 visitors last year. Our Free Admissions policy has enabled the museum to be accessible to everyone, and we would like to thank our visitors for supporting us. We hope that as many people as possible will join us on Saturday, 8 July, to celebrate what has been a fantastic five years.'

The Novium Museum will be open from 10:00 - 17:00 on Saturday, 8 July. Space Saturday demonstrations will run from 10:00 - 14:00, craft activities and handling objects from 12:00 - 16:00. All activities are free of charge and drop in, booking is not necessary. For more information call 01243 775888.