UK-based virtual museum, The 24 Hour Museum, has won the 2005 New Statesman New Media Award for Education for its city heritage guides.

The 10 online guides feature news, trail features, cultural listings and contributions from local community groups to celebrate and explore the cultural heritage of several English cities.

The cities covered are Birmingham, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle & Gateshead and Norwich.

A network of student journalists, funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), update the site with news stories while users can submit their own experiences using an online authoring tool called Storymaker.

24 Hour Museum editor Jon Pratty said: “The City Heritage Guides are an important local direction for the 24 Hour Museum and the beginning of our long term development plans for working more closely in the regions.

“We hope that people will continue to approach us, add to the project and partner up with us in the future.”

The 24 Hour Museum is an online gateway to over 3,400 museums, galleries and heritage attractions and it attracts more than half a million visitors every month.

The website is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) through the MLA, while the city heritage guides are funded by the DCMS’ Culture Online scheme. Details: www.24hourmuseum.org.uk