Cultural Participation Monitor
The Audience Agency has published initial findings from the November 2021 wave of its Cultural Participation Monitor.
Read the key points from the Cultural Participation Monitor.
The Audience Agency (TAA) is also holding a series of discussions about audiences within specific areas around the UK.
These sessions will include sharing of data about the local population and audiences, from a range of sources (including Audience Finder Data Tools, Audience Spectrum segmentation, Area Profile Reports and more). TAA will share what it’s learned from looking at this data, hear how it fits with your own insights about local audiences, and discuss what it all might mean for your audience and community engagement. If you would like to request a free event in your area please contact The Audience Agency at If you would like to request a free event in your area please contact us at events@theaudienceagency.org
Ulrike Michal Foundation for the Arts Grants
The Trustees of the Ulrike Michal Foundations for the Arts would like to announce the opening of their second funding round for Core Grant applications.
The Foundation is able to offer a small number of grants for up to £500, between £501 and £1,000 and between £1,001 and £3,000.
The grants are for art projects that “promote, encourage and extend the love, appreciation, enjoyment, understanding and practice of fine, decorative and applied arts among people of all ages through experiences at museums, art galleries, historic properties and in the community at large, both as individuals and communally, as participants and spectators.”
The Foundation welcomes applications for projects that will benefit communities across north Wales, Merseyside and the border counties of Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire.
The deadline for applications is 5pm, 20 March.
2023-26 Investment Programme: Making your application
Arts Council England (ACE) has published the Guidance for Applicants to become a National Portfolio Organisation or Investment Principles Support Organisation. The guidance has been published to give those thinking of applying plenty of time to prepare their application before the deadline on 18 May 2022 (revised date).
In addition to the Guidance for Applicants, there a number of other resources to support you in making your application, all of which are available in various formats.
Interested in making an application?
Steps you can take now on the ACE website includes links to all the relevant guidance, resources and background reading you need to get started. Organisations not currently an NPO must have an introductory conversation (see point 5 below).
A summary of the steps:
1. Let ACE know if you have access needs
2. Come to a briefing session
Online briefing sessions will be held in February and March. Book a briefing session.
3. Do your background preparation
4. Decide whether to apply to become an NPO or an IPSO (or neither!)
5. Book an introductory conversation
If you’re not currently an NPO, you must have an introductory conversation with one of the team in order for your application to be eligible. Conversations will take place between 31 January and 22 April 2022 (revised date). You can book yours now through ACE’s Customer Services team and you need to do so by 8 April (revised date) . Book your conversation
If you are currently an NPO, you don’t need to have an introductory conversation, but if you’d like one, you can book this through your Relationship Manager.
6. Start planning your application
7. Register on Grantium
8. Keep an eye out for further guidance
Kids in Museums
Kids in Museums have announced the key dates for getting involved with its programme this year including:
- Nominations open for the Family Friendly Museum Award 2022 on Tuesday 22 March
- Digital Takeover Day on Friday 1 July
- Takeover Day on Friday 18 November
MD England Volunteer Management Development Training (session 2)
West Midlands Museum Development is pleased to announce that the Volunteer Management Development training events delivered in late 2021/ early 2022 are being repeated due to high demand for places.
This national online Museum Development series of three webinars will help to develop knowledge and skills in volunteer management, volunteer recruitment and volunteer strategy development.
Please note: By completing the booking form you are signing up to attend all three events.
Sessions (all 9.30am-1pm):
Thursday 3 March – Volunteer Recruitment
Thursday 17 March – Volunteer Management and Retention
Thursday 24 March – Volunteer Strategy Development
What will participants gain?
As a result of attending this webinar series, participants will become equipped or underpin skills and knowledge. including and not limited to:
- designing attractive and diverse volunteer roles whilst considering different approaches to recruitment
- planning for volunteer recruitment, measuring success, monitoring and evaluation
- reflective practice that leads to sustainable volunteer retention, development and meaningful experiences
- volunteer strategy development that is linked to organisational values, vision and goals
All training will be delivered using a webinar format via Zoom; training will be co-facilitated by two trainers in order to bring their combined experience and to also increase the level of engagement from participants through greater variety in voice and presentation style.
Who should attend?
This session is aimed at all Accredited museums and those working towards Accreditation in the North West, North East, SHARE Museums East, South East, West Midlands and Yorkshire. These webinars are most suitable to groups and organisations that are:
- reviewing their volunteering strategy
- open to learning and exploring changes to involving volunteers
- keen to learn more about and embed inclusive practice into their work on involving volunteers
If you are based in another region, we kindly ask you to book through your local Museum Development provider which you can find the details for here.
Priority will be given to delegates from non-NPO and non-National museums in the West Midlands which are Accredited or officially Working Towards Accreditation.
If you are unable to attend any of the sessions please let us know in advance by emailing wmmd@ironbridge.org.uk
If the event becomes oversubscribed we will prioritise bookings from organisations who can send a representative to all three sessions.
Session leaders:
This webinar series is being hosted by volunteering consultants and specialists Laura Hamilton and Carol Carbine, who both bring more than 40 years of volunteer management experience in the VCSE sector.
Laura has a strong understanding of volunteer management within small and medium-sized organisations and of working with staff to build volunteer management confidence and capacity in these contexts; and runs a successful consultancy (Laura Hamilton Consulting), with a specialist focus on volunteer engagement and management and training and mentoring for volunteer managers.
Carol specialises in training/ facilitation and problem-solving/ conflict resolution, working within the overseas aid, animal welfare, disability and heritage sectors; and is a qualified NLP Practitioner. Carol offers bespoke training and facilitation through her own consultancy (Carol Carbine Consulting).
If the booking button isn’t visible this series of events is fully booked. Please email wmmd@ironbridge.org.uk if you want to join the waiting list.
Carbon Literacy for Museums Toolkit Launch
We are delighted to announce that the new Carbon Literacy for Museum Toolkit is launching on Monday 24 January.
The new Carbon Literacy for Museums Toolkit has been developed by The Carbon Literacy Project and Museum Development North West, in collaboration with Museum Development England, museums and Julie’s Bicycle as part of the Roots & Branches project.
Museums have an important role to play in tackling the climate crisis – not only by reducing the emissions created within the museum sector, but also as storytellers, stewards, and trusted public institutions with the power to influence others.
Join us on Monday 24 January from 2pm-3.30pm on Zoom to find out more about the Toolkit, how to use it and how to access Carbon Literacy training through your Museum Development Provider. You will also hear from museums who will share their experiences of Carbon Literacy training.
Museums + Heritage Awards
The Museums + Heritage Awards are open to all museums, galleries, archives and heritage visitor attractions, organisations, charities and bodies plus their suppliers, contractors and partners.
There are 17 fantastic categories, so plenty to choose from, including three free to enter categories: Sustainable Project of the Year, Volunteer(s) of the Year and Fundraising Campaign of the Year
The closing date is midnight on 1 February.
2022 Sandford Awards for Heritage Education
Applications are open for the 2022 Sandford Awards for Heritage Education.
The awards are non-competitive and offer quality assurance for your education programmes. Applications are welcome from a broad range of heritage sites and services that run formal, curriculum-linked onsite education programmes. Recognition is also given to informal learning such as family programmes and outreach.
To find out more please visit: https://www.heritageeducationtrust.org/
Entries close: 5pm, Friday 18 February
AIM Announces Conservation Grants for non-accredited museums
The scheme has been developed to help museums recover from the ongoing effects of the Covid pandemic and enforced closures that have affected many in the sector, with a special focus on small museums and others that have found it difficult to access other support.
It is the aim of the scheme to enable museums to undertake work that has been put on hold due to a lack of resources, closure of buildings and lack of access to collections, the furloughing or loss of skilled staff or volunteers, or other consequences of the pandemic and its effects. These are all factors that have had an impact on museums throughout the country, worsening existing challenges.
The Brighter Day audit grants are aimed at non-accredited museums and other organisations that are not eligible for the AIM/ Pilgrim Trust collections care audit grants. Please do not apply for a Brighter Day audit grant if you are eligible for the AIM/ Pilgrim Trust scheme. If you’re not sure which scheme is right for you, then please get in touch with Tonia Collett.
For more information on the grant scheme please visit the website.
Art Fund Museum of the Year 2022
Art Fund Museum of the Year is the world’s largest museum prize. It celebrates exceptional museums, galleries and heritage sites, recognises imaginative work and inspires more people to engage. The winner receives a prize of £100,000, and shortlisted organisations £15,000 each.
Applications will open on Wednesday 5 January, and close on 8 February. In 2022, Art Fund is seeking applications from organisations whose achievements tell the story of the creativity, ingenuity and resilience of the sector – with practice that can be sustained for audiences of today and tomorrow at the forefront of our minds.
Are you the next Art Fund Museum of the Year?
Art Fund is encouraging applications from any museum, gallery or historic house, whatever their scale, and from wherever they are located in the UK. Applicants will be asked to answer three questions:
- What did you do in the last year which showed imagination and creativity?
- How did this make a difference?
- How will you sustainably build on this in the future?
They are keen to hear from all kinds of organisations, no matter the shape, size or location, whether you have a collection or not, or whether or not you opened your doors to the public in the last year.
You can choose to focus on one thing in your application or give an overview of several types of activity.
Full details are in the application pack which includes more information on the light-touch application process and the timeline.
