DEDICATED volunteers at Dorking Museum are celebrating after receiving the "incredible" news they have been shortlisted for a major award just five months after re-opening.
The West Street attraction beat 500 competitors for a place among the five finalists in the running for the Culture Pros Pick prize in The Guardian's Museums and Heritage Awards.
Volunteer Erica Chambers said: "We didn't get any notification from anyone – I saw the news come up on a Google alert and I just started shouting about how incredible it was.
"We are only tiny and when we saw we were up against places like the Museum of London it was just the most amazing feeling. It's very exciting and to know that this was voted for by the people of Dorking makes it extra special."
Mrs Chambers said the nomination was a real feather in the cap for the museum's team of volunteers, particularly as they only reopened in October following a four-year closure for refurbishment.
The finalists were chosen for displaying a "ground-breaking approach to engaging with audiences and visitors" during the last 12 months.
To win the category, the museum must now receive more online votes than the Amlwch Copper Bins in Anglesey, the Grant Museum of Zoology in London, the Museum of London and Stow Maries Aerodrome in Essex.
Mrs Chambers urged Dorking residents to do all they could to secure the award.
She continued: "It would be lovely to win it, but we understand we are up against some pretty stiff competition.
"We need to get the town behind us and have as many people as possible voting for us.
"If we won, it would make us amazingly proud of what we have achieved considering we are all volunteers, we get no public money and we get no money from the council.
"We exist because of the goodwill of the town and of the volunteers."
To vote for the museum, visit http://tinyurl.com/d6nh5jk before April 12.
