We’re delighted to announce that WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre has been awarded the Visit England Gold Accolade, the highest quality award available to British attractions, for the first time.



The centre was ‘mystery shopped’ by an assessor in autumn 2017 as part of the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) and was graded in areas such as visitor arrival, quality of displays, cleanliness and catering, as well as customer care and staff knowledge. To be in contention for a Gold accolade attractions need an overall percentage score of at least 87%, which Martin Mere exceeded with a final score of 88%.

The score was slightly improved from 2016 which was 86% – a testament to the continued enthusiasm, hard work and dedication of our staff, volunteers and supporters, as well as our wonderful wildlife.

Centre Manager, Nick Brooks, said: “At Martin Mere we do thrive to maintain high standards in everything we do – whether that is the way we meet and greet our visitors and deliver talks to keeping the pathways litter free and the toilets clean. Our Trip Advisor rating continues to be graded as excellent as well with a rating of 4.5 – so it really encouraging to know that mystery shoppers and visitors take away the same great experience.”

Now the snow has melted away, the centre is back on track getting ready for Spring and the forthcoming Easter holidays which features the GIANT Easter duck hunt starting on 24 March. The canoe safari and boat tours will also be reopening for Easter as well as the pond dipping zone for kids to see what creatures they can find lurking in the water. The popular paint a duck activity will also be returning for you to paint your own duck to bring it back on Monday 7 May for the annual duck race.

WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9.30am to 4.30pm during winter months and parking is free of charge. Situated off the A59, it is signposted from the M61, M58 and M6. The Centre is also accessible via the Southport to Manchester and the Liverpool to Preston line by train from Burscough Rail Stations. Visit the web site http://www.wwt.org.uk/martinmere/ to find out what’s on all year round at Martin Mere and the other eight WWT Wetland Centres.

An excellent place to take the grandchildren.