The Industrial Narrow Gauge Museum is the Drenthe finalist of the Heritage Volunteer Prize 2025.
Twelve finalists were selected from approximately 125 applications from across the country. A finalist has been chosen per province. Other finalists include Monument and Material from Groningen, Canon De Noordoostpolder from Flevoland and the Bunker Museum Terschelling for Friesland.
The Heritage Volunteer Award was established in 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, as a token of appreciation for the many volunteers who are committed to the heritage sector.
About the Drenthe finalist, the organization says: “In Erica, the youth group of the Industrial Narrow Gauge Museum shows that heritage is also alive and well with new generations. In addition to study or work, the volunteers are enthusiastically committed to preserving old locomotives, dump carts, ammunition wagons and a moving crane. With care and craftsmanship, they restore each object and record the stories behind it, so that technology and history are preserved.”
The Industrial Narrow Gauge Museum celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. At the beginning of this year, the museum sounded the alarm to the municipality because more subsidies were needed to secure the future of the museum. The Emmer objections committee rejected the increase in the annual subsidy.
You can vote for the finalists from today. Minister Gouke Moes of Education, Culture and Science will present the prize on December 12. The prize consists of an amount of 10,000 euros. Half of this amount can be spent freely, the other half is used to stimulate knowledge transfer within volunteer work.