Dr Jenner’s House wins the 2025 Frances Garnham Award for Education

The award commemorates the achievements of Frances Garnham, who worked as Director of Policy and Campaigns at Historic Houses until 2015. Frances was passionate about encouraging heritage sites to embrace the opportunities of engaging with a wide range of audiences, and this award in her name seeks to shine a light on innovative examples of learning and outreach. 
 

Dr Jenner’s House, Museum and Garden,  in Gloucestershire, dates to the 1790s. Known as the birthplace of  vaccination, Edward Jenner, pioneer of the vaccination against smallpox lived here. Visitors can see his study, explore his garden, including the historic Vinery and the modern Physic Garden, and stand in the Temple of Vaccinia, where Jenner vaccinated the people of Berkeley free of charge.  
 
The team at Dr Jenner’s House use him as inspiration when it comes to their education programme. Their schools programme was developed alongside the Pandemic Science Institute in Oxford, and their resources and interpretations aim to integrate STEM subjects with the creative arts. 
 
Director of Dr Jenner’s House, James Rodliff, said: “We are profoundly honoured to receive the Frances Garnham Award, which shines a light on our commitment to education at Dr Jenner’s House. We believe historic houses have a critical role to play, ours being a vital centre for learning and outreach. Our workshops are specifically designed to be engaging, hands-on, and inclusive, ensuring that everyone in our community, regardless of background, has the opportunity to connect with this crucial piece of global and local history. We encourage all our guests to be curious, experimental, and to think like Jenner.” 
 
Tom Freshwater, Head of Visitor Programming at The National Trust and one of the judging panel said: “I was impressed by the enthusiasm across the team of staff, volunteers, and Trustees for the education mission of Dr Jenner’s House. There is an innovative and entrepreneurial attitude to making learning opportunities available to a wide range of people in both their formal learning programmes and informal learning. They have big ambitions for the future and it is clear that education is at the heart of what they do.” 

Watch the Frances Garnham Education Award winner video below.