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Where We Are… Partnership Opportunity

Where we are… is a new UK-wide national programme for young people aged 16–24 that co-designs and co-delivers meaningful local projects in arts and culture. Supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and covering costs for all involved, the programme aims to engage young people who are under-served in the museum sector.

The British Museum is looking for organisations that want to work in a truly collaborative way with young people to create these co-designed projects. These projects will be unique to their locality, each responding to a local community need identified by the young people. They are delivered through a partnership between the British Museum, a local cultural organisation, a third sector organisation and young people. By working in partnership with local charities and cultural spaces, we aim to connect with young people who are under-served by the cultural sector.

For more information and details on how to apply to become one of the partners this year, please visit https://www.britishmuseum.org/where-we-are

MidFed Relaunch

The Midlands Federation of Museums and Art Galleries (MidFed) is relaunching.  It will be the first of a series of 40 minute lunchtime Zoom meetings  with a five minute presentation and plenty of time for chat. It’ll be a relaxed discussion about relevant issues, sharing good ideas and keeping in touch.

The first three meetings will be looking at how museums have kept in touch with staff, volunteers and audiences over the last year; thinking about what worked and perhaps what didn’t work and also asking whether any of these new systems will stay with us for the long term.

This first meeting will hear from Jodie Henshaw, Curator of Mansfield Museum, who will talk about how the Museum and the Council have kept in touch with staff.

To learn more about MidFed and to book a place, please visit the MidFed website.

Kids in Museums Programme Dates 

Family Friendly Museum Award: Opens in April

Digital Takeover Day: Friday 25 June 2021

Takeover Day: Friday 12 November 2021

To get involved visit the KiM website.

The Arts Society’s Spring 2021 Grants Open

Charities may apply for up to £3,000.

All grants from The Arts Society are intended to give access to the arts to those that wouldn’t normally have access to them. The Society believe in Arts for All and will use the grants to make a positive contribution to people’s lives through the arts.

With the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and heritage sectors, the Spring 2021 round of grants will be extremely competitive. The Grants Committee will be giving particular consideration to any projects severely impacted by or bring most benefit to those affected by the pandemic. Project applications should still meet the Society’s criteria and fall under one or more of the following areas in its funding strategy:

To find out more, including eligibility, click here.

Closing date: 5pm, 31 March

 

 

 

National Lottery Grants for Heritage Open

Full range of National Lottery funding resumes with refocused priorities for 2021-22. 

Applications are open for National Lottery Grants for Heritage from £3,000 up to £5million. National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLFH) will prioritise projects that contribute to our recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.

The resumption of project funding marks a return to NLHF’s core business, but it is not a return to ‘business as usual’.

As the pandemic continues to impact so many aspects of our lives, NLHF wants to fund projects that demonstrate the value of heritage to our national life and which support local economies, places and communities.

For more information including guidance click here.

Mapping Cultural Engagement in the West Midlands Survey

Indigo-Ltd and Baker Richards have been contracted as consultants to form a picture of cultural engagement across the West Midlands. This piece of work is designed to accelerate audience recovery in response to Covid-19 and make the best use of future platforms such as the Coventry UK City of Culture and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

It has been commissioned by a collective of West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), Birmingham City Council (BCC) Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games (OC), Coventry City of Culture and Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP (GBSLEP)

The consultants are therefore interested in finding out which data about audiences and visitors is available from the many and varied cultural organisations and activities across the region. Please complete the following questions, even if you don’t have any data – as that’s part of the learning as well.

Take the survey.

Accreditation Scheme Update

Arts Council England (ACE) and the other Accreditation partners have published an update for the Accreditation Scheme, which was paused last year due to Covid-19, to offer detail on what museums can expect over the next few months.

Due to the ongoing nature of the pandemic, and with a new national lockdown in place, they are not able to confirm a full reopening date for the Accreditation Scheme at this stage. In England, ACE will be phasing its approach to reopening the scheme, focusing initially on museums that are new to Accreditation and applying for the first time.

To support all Accredited museums in the UK, their current Accreditation award status is being further extended for an additional 12 months to 1 April 2022. Whether your museum holds a Full or Provisional award, it’s still Accredited, and you’re able to apply for funding which has Accreditation status as an eligibility criterion.

As this is an unfolding situation, current thinking is subject to change and further Government advice. ACE will aim to provide more information in March 2021 and recommend regularly checking its website for updates here.

Phased reopening:
The UK wide Accreditation Partnership has agreed that plans for reopening and rollout will respond to the devolved approaches to lockdown and recovery for museums in each of the four nations.

  • In England, ACE is phasing the reopening of the scheme and will partially reopen by end of April 2021. Museums which are Working Towards Accreditation or hoping to put in a new application will be able to apply from April 2021.
  • If you’ve already applied and are awaiting an award outcome, ACE will give you the opportunity to update your information and review your application again.  ACE will also give you longer to prepare by extending its target WTA period by a further 12 months automatically if you need it.
  • If you have a provisional review in progress, you’ll be able to review this, make any updates, and resubmit from April 2021 onwards.

Eligibility has remained open throughout the UK for museums, galleries and heritage organisations considering a new applications to the scheme.

The full update and FAQs can be viewed here.

Innovative ‘Nurse in Residence’ Scheme Launched

Thanks to a major grant of £40,000 from the Art Fund’s Respond & Reimagine scheme, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham is launching a major health and wellbeing initiative for 2021.

The project builds on the organisation’s previous experience of working in this area but takes it to new levels and areas by using multi-disciplinar professionalism and community engagement.

The year-long endeavour will see the Barber roll out a programme of innovative arts activity delivered in and with the communities on the museum’s doorstep and with health and wellbeing as its aim and outcome.

This ambitious project has four interconnecting strands: a Nurse in Residence, Death and Dying Community Conversations, Care Home Outreach and a Social Prescribing pilot.

Central to Barber Health is the innovative Nurse in Residence programme. The project’s inaugural Nurse in Residence is Jane Nicol, Senior Lecturer at the University of Birmingham’s School of Nursing and a registered nurse who has specialised in palliative and end of life care. Over the next 12 months, Jane will be looking at the Barber’s collection through her unique lens and developing ways of using these major works of art to inform community healthcare and enrich medical training.

Read more.

Culture& Unveils New Training Programme

Arts and heritage charity Culture& has updated its training programme for people from diverse backgrounds.

The New Museum School Advanced Programme has been developed in response to a survey of previous programme participants who highlighted barriers to their career progression. The survey found that people wanted more flexible professional development opportunities and specific support to access postgraduate qualifications.

Culture&’s New Museum School has trained 134 young people from diverse backgrounds over the past seven years, with 74% finding full-time employment in the sector within six months of graduating.

The 2021 New Museum School Advanced Programme is supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and is designed to help address a lack of workforce diversity in the sector, particularly among those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Culture& has developed the new model with academic partner the University of Leicester and with support from a range of sector organisations, including the Museums Association.

For more information including how to apply click here.

Culture Recovery Fund – New Grants Available in January 2021

Following the first round of Cultural Recovery Funds (CRF) back in the Autumn, on Friday 11 December 2020 the Government announced a second round of funding as part of its £1.57 billion support package for arts, culture and heritage in the UK.

Today, Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage Fund have announced the deadlines for this second round of grants.

Details of the two funds are below, please read the guidance for each to check which fund you are eligible for.

Arts Council England (ACE) Culture Recovery Fund: Grants Second Round

The Culture Recovery Fund: Grants Second Round is for cultural organisations as they transition back to a viable and sustainable operating model during April-June 2021.  You can apply for any amount between £25,000 and £3 million.

More information including guidance and FAQs can be found here

ACE are also hosting a webinar series for potential Recovery Fund applicants. The first is from 10.30am – 12pm on Tuesday 22 December.

Join their December webinar here

They have additional sessions planned for January. They encourage you to familiarise yourself with the guidance for applicants and FAQs, then come along to a session in the new year with any questions you might have.

Join their January webinars here

National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage: Second Round

Grants for heritage

This second round will offer grants of between £10,000 and £3 million to support organisations to make the transition towards full reopening.

More information including guidance and FAQs can be found here

NLHF will be running web based events to provide some support to applicants and will publish details on their websites (Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund) in due course.