Museums Change Lives Awards – send in your entry!
The Museums Change Lives Awards are still open for entries this year until midday on 8 September. The Museums Change Lives Awards shine a spotlight on museums making a difference in their communities – winners are showcased at MA Conference in Liverpool in November, and are given a substantial profile in Museums Journal.
There are four awards this year, comprising three institutional awards (Best Museums Change Lives Project Award, Digital Engagement Award and Best Small Museum Project Award) and one individual award (Radical Changemaker Award). You can find out all about these awards, eligibility and how to enter here: https://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/museums-change-lives/awards-2021/
It’s an easy process to enter – just a short form summarising the work that you have done and the difference that it has made to your community, so do consider entering a project or piece of work that you have done in the past year.
Covid Support Scheme
The Covid Support Scheme, part of the Museums Association (MA)’s Benevolent Fund, offers grants of £500 to individual members whose finances have been significantly affected by the pandemic.
The MA will also consider granting awards to those working in the sector who have been unable to renew their membership due to their financial circumstances during the pandemic.
The scheme is open for applications now and it has a number of grants to distribute, so if you or a fellow member have been impacted by the pandemic, please ensure that you apply or encourage others to do so.
Priority will be given to those suffering the most hardship, including applicants who have been made redundant during the current period, have little or no savings, or are in freelance and contract work that has been curtailed during this period and support is unavailable or at a very low level.
Application deadline: 10 September
Touring Exhibition Group – Marketplace 2021
Join colleagues nationwide for two days of networking and inspiration at Touring Exhibition Group’s Marketplace 2021, the UK’s principal touring and partnership exhibitions event.
This year’s Marketplace will be held entirely online, on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 October 2021.
The theme is ‘The Sustainability of our Industry’, and speakers will examine future facing topics such as equality, diversity and inclusion; digital technology and skills: and the economic situation through case studies, panel discussions and audience Q&As.
As well as inspirational and informative speakers, there will be opportunities to:
- Take part in virtual tours of exciting new exhibitions.
- Share your current and future projects, via ‘3-minute Share Sessions’ and networking activities.
- Meet organisations offering and looking to host exhibitions.
- Meet one-to-one with a range of commercial companies and sector support organisations providing services, products and exhibitions to touring exhibition producers.
The 3-Minute Share Sessions are an opportunity to present information about upcoming tours, loan or partnership exhibition projects to delegates, to ask for input or find partners. Details on how to book a presentation slot will be sent to you when you purchase your Marketplace ticket. There is no extra cost for participating but early booking is essential for this popular element of Marketplace. Speaking slots are available on a first come, first served basis.
To book your place, please go to Touring Exhibition Group’s Marketplace 2021.
National Sporting Heritage Day 2021
Sporting Heritage CIC supports the collection, preservation, access and research of sporting heritage in the UK and hosts the National Sporting Heritage Day each year on 30 September..
This year’s theme is ‘Inspire, Share and Celebrate’ and will focus on inter-generational activities and learning, using sporting heritage collections and stories to encourage conversations across generations. There are many ways for your museum to get involved from hosting an event to promoting your work and sporting collections online. You don’t need to be a sports museum to take part, but can use any of the sports collections or stories in your collection to inspire new audiences through sport and tap into our national campaign.
You can find out more about how Sporting Heritage CIC can support and promote your work through National Sporting Heritage Day by visiting its website.
Funding Opportunity – Opening Archives: Bringing communities and archives together using digital technology
This exciting opportunity offers grants, development and mentoring.
The Audience Agency is looking for 10 to 15 action research projects for an exciting new opportunity funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Digital Skills for Heritage. It is offering funding and support for projects, that use digital technology in some way to engage communities with archiving or archive collections.
Each successful project will receive:
- A £1,000 to £5,000 grant to support a new activity or piece of work that uses digital technology to engage communities with archives or archiving.
- Training and development to help get your idea off the ground and support to evaluate the outcomes of your project.
- A mentor who will offer one-to-one guidance, expertise and support through individually tailored sessions.
Deadline for applications: 13 August 2021, midnight
Project dates: 13 September 2021 – 28 March 2022
More information and how to apply
New Stories New Audiences Funding
Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, AIM’s New Stories New Audiences scheme offers grants of up £15,000 to AIM’s smaller members to deliver projects that tell a new story that will attract a new audience for their organisation. AIM will support museums to work with new partners and try out something new.
All museums need to increase and widen their audiences to enhance their sustainability and to widen participation to groups that are currently under-represented. New Stories New Audiences will inspire museums to stay relevant to their audiences and to increase their impact. Find out more.
Closing date for applications: 31 October
Investment Principles Resource Hub
ACE has published the Essential Read for Dynamism on its Investment Principles resource hub. This completes the series of Essential Reads for each of the four Investment Principles in the Let’s Create Strategy, ACE’s strategy for the next ten years.
The four Investment Principles are: Ambition & Quality; Dynamism; Environmental Responsibility; and Inclusivity & Relevance.
ACE has also published a Governance guide for boards, which includes a planning cycle to help you embed the Investment Principles in your organisation and governance, as well as a map of actions and next steps to get you started on your journey.
New £1million funding for digital volunteering
New National Lottery funding will boost digital skills in the heritage sector by helping organisations develop digital volunteering opportunities.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s 2020 Digital Attitudes and Skills for Heritage (DASH) survey and report identified an appetite to develop digital skills across the sector, as well as the opportunity for organisations to benefit from ‘at distance’ volunteers.
It found that the sector is calling out for digital innovation to help it move into a more resilient, creative future, and identified an opportunity to create new forms of volunteering to support this.
The £1m National Lottery funding announced through the Digital Skills for Heritage initiative is in response to this. Heritage organisations and partnerships of all sizes across the UK can apply.
Full information of the digital volunteering funding is now available, including details on eligibility and how to apply. Project Enquiry Forms must be submitted by 12 noon on 16 August and full applications by 27 September.
Culture Recovery Fund: Emergency Resource Support Guidance Announced
The Government has announced a new round of the Culture Recovery Fund, including a grants programme for arts and cultural organisations in urgent need of funding: Culture Recovery Fund: Emergency Resource Support.
This programme is designed to support organisations at imminent risk of failure and will provide emergency funding to help them return to financial viability. Today ACE has published the guidance for applicants for this programme.
The Emergency Resource Support fund is open to for-profit (commercial) and non-profit arts and cultural organisations who are at imminent risk of failure within twelve weeks of making an application.
This is a rolling programme; applications can be submitted between 15 July and 14 October 2021 and ACE will aim to communicate a decision within six weeks. To submit an application, you’ll need to receive Permission to Apply (PTA) first. Applicants can begin submitting PTA forms from Thursday 8 July and ACE will send outcomes within five working days where possible.
Who can apply?
Your organisation must:
- Demonstrate that they are at risk of no longer trading viably within twelve weeks of the point of application
- Have been sustainable before Covid-19 and have exhausted all other reasonable options for increasing their resilience
- Demonstrate how this funding will allow them to return to financial viability (by no later than 31 December 2021)
What organisations can apply for
You can apply for a minimum of £25,000 and up to £3 million if you’re a non-profit organisation or up to £1 million if you’re a for-profit organisation.
Key dates
Thursday 8 July: Permission to Apply requests open
Thursday 15 July: Emergency Resource Support portal opens for applications
Thursday 30 September: Deadline to submit Permission to Apply requests
Thursday 14 October: Emergency Resource Support portal closes for applications
Full guidance and FAQs
Read the full guidance and FAQs for applicants. It includes details on who can apply, what you can apply for, how the application process works, and what ACE is looking for in your application.
Applications are now open for Steps to Sustainability
Applications are now open for Steps to Sustainability Round 2.
About the programme
This programme, starting in September 2021, will provide a pathway for a further 30 heritage organisations across the UK to be ambitious, forward thinking and deliver exciting new projects. Each participant must have a business idea which they will have the opportunity to develop throughout the duration of the programme and present for 2-stage funding up to a maximum of £10,000 at the end of the delivery period.
Quick programme overview:
- 8 day programme of activities over 6 months to help you prepare for, and build sustainability, including masterclass, webinar, networking and good practice sessions
- 9 month development period to embed your learning, including access to coaching / business mentoring
- Funding of up to £10,000 to help shape the success of the business idea
- Resources and toolkits for success
- A network of peers and sector leaders from across the UK
- Each cohort is taken on a supported journey of development over the entire programme. Each cohort will work together and have the chance to mix more widely at connect sessions, webinars and masterclasses.
- Joining fee £50 per person, per organisation
Please read the brochure and visit the website for full programme outline, dates, eligibility and how to apply.
- Deadline for applications – 23 July 2021
- Programme starts September 2021
- Steps to Sustainability
A presentation and Q & A session is being held on Zoom on 25th June 2021, 2pm-3pm – RSVP to stos@socialenterprise.academy
