Spring 2023 Rural Voices Seminar Series
Rural Museums Network is delighted to present its online Spring 2023 Rural Voices Seminar Series.
In Your Words – Breathing new life into the Survey of English Dialect
Thursday 2 March, 3pm-4.30pm
The Dialect and Heritage Project is a national project based on a partnership between the University of Leeds and five member museums of the Rural Museums Network. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have been taking dialect and heritage resources out of the archive and putting them back into the local communities where they truly belong. At the same time, we have been encouraging members of the public to share their present-day dialect with us. The project has tapped into massive public appetite for sharing dialect leading to huge media coverage. In this talk, we will introduce you to the rich dialect archives held at the University of Leeds, explain what the project has been up to and how you can access the resources, hear from museum partners about what they have got out of it, and think about where we might be headed next.
Find out more and book In Your Words – Breathing new life into the Survey of English Dialect
Utilising Intangible Cultural Heritage to Actively Support Rural Crafts
Thursday 20 April, 3pm-4.30pm
Heritage Crafts is the national charity for traditional crafts skills and the only UNESCO-accredited ICH NGO in the UK focusing solely on the domain of traditional craftsmanship. Daniel Carpenter, Executive Director of Heritage Crafts, and Greta Bertram, Curator at the Crafts Study Centre, will talk about the work of the organisation and the way in which it has partnered with museums to raise awareness of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), as well as the challenges museums face in incorporating ICH into their offering in a way that actively supports the continuation of embodied craft knowledge, skills and practices.
Find out more and book Utilising Intangible Cultural Heritage to Actively Support Rural Crafts
Disability in Rural Museums – past and present narratives
Thursday 4 May, 2pm-3.30pm
Explore how rural museums can better represent D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people in our museums and use our collections. Karen Sayer, Professor at Leeds Trinity University, askes how might we discover the history of disability in rural museums, and Emily Goff, Project Manager at Curating for Change, looks at how rural museums can enable and retain a more diverse work force, essential for museums to remain relevant for themselves and their communities.
Find out more and book Disability in Rural Museums – past and present narratives
Museums & Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief: ‘How To’ Webinars
Join the Arts Council and RSM for a guide to the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief (MGETR) on Friday 24 February, 12noon-1.30pm and Wednesday 1 March 2pm-3.30pm
MGETR is the eighth in a series of creative reliefs introduced by government. It is designed to support organisations to create, and tour public facing exhibitions by helping them to recover some of their production costs.
You will find out:
- who can claim
- what can be claimed
- what it’s worth to your organisation
The session will also cover the Arts Council’s step-by-step guide to developing a claim for the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief and FAQs that address many common questions and misconceptions associated with the tax relief.
There is a two-year deadline to make a claim from the end of your financial year, therefore many organisations will need to submit claims before 31 March 2023, so join a webinar to find out how you can start to claim money back on your exhibition production costs.
New Funding Rounds Announced
Arts Council England (ACE) has announced details of the next round of programmes that make up the Cultural Investment Fund.
The programmes are:
- Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND)
- Targeted at non-national Accredited museums to undertake vital infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlogs which are beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets
- Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF)
- To enable library services across England to invest in a range of projects to upgrade buildings and technology so they are better placed to respond to the changing ways people are using them
- Cultural Development Fund (CDF)
- Investing in transformative place-based creative and cultural initiatives
New rounds of MEND and LIF will open in early 2023 with £22.6 million available through this round of MEND, and £10.5 million through LIF (funding amounts may be subject to DCMS business planning).
Further applications for MEND will take place in early 2024, alongside another round of CDF.
Key dates for MEND round three
Guidance published: Monday 6 February
Webinar: Monday 27 February
Expressions of Interest open: 9am, Monday 6 March to midday, Friday 21 April
Full application forms open: 9am, Tuesday 30 May to midday, Friday 18 August
You can find out more about the three programmes here on the ACE website.
Environmental Conditions – Advice for winter blackouts
Following the information about the Government Indemnity Scheme and relaxation of the lower temperature requirement to help venues turn down the dial on their heating this winter, this is some follow-on advice from the GIS Environmental Adviser about possible winter blackouts. All of the security points already circulated as advice from the National Security and Protection Manager apply to environmental control systems and monitoring equipment (Read this advice).
It is important to distinguish between rolling black-outs as currently being considered by the National Grid, and power cuts due to adverse weather conditions. The latter are ideally covered by disaster preparedness plans and measures that museums have in place already.
The rolling black-outs will be announced in advance, and it is therefore possible to prepare for them.
The brief periods without control (c 3-hour slots are being proposed?) may not be a major issue for museum environments, but GIS would advise the following:
- Retain as much as possible of the controlled air by keeping (internal as well as external) doors closed, reducing any air ventilation/ leakage/ draughts, and using blinds, curtains and/ or shutters if the museum decides it cannot be open to the public during these blackouts;
- gradually reduce the amount of environmental control in the day(s) leading up to the planned black-out to create a slow and gradual change to the period with no control, and just as importantly, gradually reintroduce the environmental control and resist the temptation to get conditions back to where they were as quickly as possible. Slow and smooth changes are much less likely to create problems (whether from ‘good’ to ‘bad’ conditions, or the other way round);
- where possible switch control and monitoring equipment off manually prior to the blackout period, and switch back on manually after the period has finished, to avoid damage to equipment as a result of the brief surge when electricity supply is restored;
- monitor the effect of the first few black-outs on the environments (most monitoring equipment is battery-operated and will continue to take readings even if there can be no live data), and adjust the need for/ amount of preparation accordingly. Museums relying on their BMS for monitoring data may wish to purchase some independent monitoring equipment that continues to operate during a blackout (unless generators are in place to ensure uninterrupted power supply).
Environmental Conditions – Temporary suspension of minimum temperature requirement
To support museums with rising energy costs throughout the winter months, Arts Council England has agreed, with DCMS, to suspend the minimum temperature requirement for the next four months (December – March).
The standard requirement for temperature is: 16°C – 24°C with a maximum fluctuation of 4°C within 24 hours. The minimum requirement of 16°C will be suspended to 31 March 2023.
This arrangement is introduced with immediate effect and is not expected to produce negative impact on collections and loan items under indemnity. This temporary arrangement requires a planned approach of gradually reducing the temperature at the beginning and restoring at end of the 4 month period, to create a slow and gradual change to the period with no minimum temperature control; and in agreement with owners/ lenders.
This temporary arrangement is supported by the Government Indemnity Scheme (GIS) Environmental Adviser who will assess submitted temperature data accordingly.
GIS continues to require environmental conditions to be maintained 24 hours a days, 7 days a week throughout the loan period from the time the indemnified object arrives until it departs from the loan venue in accordance with Annex D of the GIS Guidelines for National and Non National institutions. Relative humidity, temperature, light and UV levels are to be monitored through the loan period in the space within which the indemnified object is contained.
For general or environmental advice, email government.indemnityscheme@artscouncil.org.uk
2023 Sandford Awards – Call for Entries
The awards are non-competitive and provide an independent, quality assured assessment of your learning programmes. The six criteria underpinning the Sandford Award assessment provide a framework for success whether you are looking to gain the recognition your learning programmes deserve or seeking to develop the quality of your learning provision.
To find out more about the Sandford Award scheme and how to enter, please visit
Heritage Education Trust: Home of the Sandford Award
Closing date: 5pm, Friday 17 February
Pay in Museums
Museums Association has published its Salary Research and Recommendations 2022 report. It highlights the serious issues around low pay in the museum sector.
This report aims to provide clear and accurate data on the current state of pay levels in the museum sector, covering both support and specialist jobs as well as management. It also examines staff benefits, and some of the changes that have occurred since the previous Salary Guidelines were published in 2017.
NPO Announcement Date
A new date has been set for the announcement of Arts Council England’s 2023-26 investment programme.
In a statement, ACE said: “In agreement with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, we are pleased to confirm that all our 2023-26 Investment Programme applicants will receive decisions from us on Friday 4 November 2022.
“We apologise for the uncertainty this delay has caused and thank applicants for their patience. We have contacted all applicants to let them know of the new announcement date.”
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/statement-pausing-2023-26-investment-programme-announcement
Arts Council England delays investment programme announcement
Following discussions with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England has agreed to delay the announcement of the organisations joining our 2023-26 Investment Programme, due to take place on 26 October.
The announcement of the portfolio will instead be made as soon as possible within the coming days.
VAT Refund Scheme Reopened
DCMS is pleased to announce that the VAT Refund Scheme for museums and galleries has now reopened for applications. The latest guidance for museums looking to apply can be found here.
Museums may request an application form by emailing vat33a@dcms.gov.uk. In order to apply, museums must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Be open to the general public for at least 30 hours per week, without exception
- Offer free entry, without prior appointment
- Hold collections in a purpose-built building
- Display details of free entry and opening hours on the museum or gallery website
Museums and galleries will also be required to complete a strategic business case as part of the application process, which must include:
- Proof of Arts Council England Accredited status (or equivalent)
- Past and/ or projected visitor figures
- Information on existing and planned education programmes and community engagement work
Applications will close at 5pm, Thursday 5 January 2023. Museums may direct any enquires they have about the scheme to vat33a@dcms.gov.uk.
