Touchstones awarded top accolade by VisitEngland

Touchstones Rochdale, the borough’s award-winning Arts and Heritage Centre has been awarded the Visit England Welcome Accolade

One of 73 across England to be awarded one of VisitEngland's Visitor Attraction Accolades, Touchstones is one of just three in the Greater Manchester area to receive an award, and one of just seven in the North West to receive the Welcome Accolade.

The 73 attractions are being recognised as a result of the exceptional experience they provide visitors from storytelling to food and drink and from customer service to overall winners. 

Darren Grice, Deputy CEO of Link4Life, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to receive this award, especially with the thousands of visitors across the region visiting our current Dippy Exhibition and enjoying our warm welcome, it’s a measure of all our amazing team.

“Our front of house staff who go over and above to offer a warm and friendly welcome to everyone that visits our venue, which offers a range of family friendly activities and events throughout the year.

“Our gallery spaces are regularly transformed to host fascinating and immersive artwork which is both local and international talent.”

Introduced by VisitEngland in 2014, the Visitor Attraction Accolades are available to members of the Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme. They include the Welcome Accolade, Hidden Gem, Best Told Story, Quality Food and Drink and the Gold Accolade for all-round top-scoring attractions.

The Visitor Attraction Accolades recognise the outstanding visitor experiences on offer across the country, awarded based on a score received in the annual Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme assessment by VisitEngland.

Tourism is worth an estimated £127 billion to the UK economy annually, creating jobs and boosting economic growth.