Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – Do you have a plan?

Working in partnership with Inclusive Boards, West Midlands Museum Development (WMMD) is offering West Midlands museums the opportunity to access professional support to learn, ask difficult questions, and plan actions that will help to create meaningful change.

Race and Ethnicity Training

Wednesday 28 October 10am-11.30am via Zoom

Book here.

Join WMMD and Inclusive Boards for a short, interactive training session on Race and Ethnicity covering the following key topics;

• Understanding the difference between race and ethnicity
• Understanding terminology – for example white privilege, micro aggression
• How to be an active ally
• Asking difficult questions
• Exploring best practice from across sectors, including, quotas, targets and success measures

Developing an Equality Action Plan

Wednesday 18 and Wednesday 25 November 10am-11.30am via Zoom and 1-2-1 follow up support

Download the application form here.

An effective Equality Action Plan (EAP) can support equality, diversity and inclusion for workforce, audiences, programming and collections. This programme has been designed to support managers, Trustees and decisions makers to develop EAPs that will enable their museums to strategically implement changes to create more diverse and inclusive organisations.
Whether it is your first EAP or development of an existing plan, you will be supported to;

• Identify your own organisational challenges and priorities
• Set ambitious, measurable targets
• Refine and communicate plans to colleagues, stakeholders and audiences
• Understand how EAPs are effective through regular review

Inclusive Boards will provide expert feedback and guidance on your developing plan to ensure it is clear, ambitious and fit for purpose.

We have appointed Inclusive Boards to design and deliver this training and support. They are a highly experienced training agency who have worked with over 100 organisations at board level to support their equality, diversity and inclusion strategic planning and development of equality, diversity and inclusion action planning.

Please note successful applicants must participate in both training sessions and follow up support.

Project Opportunity

Fit for Purpose?

Supporting strategic collecting planning

• Would you like support with strategic planning around future collecting?
• How would this support look?
• What outcome would you like to see for your museum and collections?

This year West Midlands Museum Development (WMMD) is building on previous work around future collecting with a project exploring collecting strategies and asking if our existing collecting policies are still fit for purpose.

WMMD would like to work with two museums in the region, ideally with different governance models, to help them to take a step back and assess the relevance of their collecting strategy and support them in making change.  We would like to hear from you if this is something that might be applicable to your museum.

If you are interested in discussing this project further please contact wmmd@ironbridge.org.uk no later than Friday 16 October with a brief paragraph outlining why this is a priority for your museum and what you would like to achieve.

Expert Eye 2020 – Deadline extended to 2 October

Are you looking for an expert to help with your collections?

Many of us have objects or unique collections in our museums that we know little about. A lack of knowledge can sometimes prevent us from sharing them with our visitors and wider audiences. This is where Expert Eye can help.

West Midlands Museum Development (WMMD) has been running the programme for five years, supporting museums across the West Midlands region to improve their knowledge, expertise and confidence about some of the collections they hold.

What does Expert Eye support?

• Improvements to documentation, catalogues and the management of underused collections
• The development of staff knowledge and confidence
• The interpretation of the collection items
• Knowledge sharing across the museum’s staff and volunteers

This programme aims to improve collections management and care of collections skills. It will support museums with the Managing Collections requirements of the 2018 Museum Accreditation Standard, with particular reference to 5.2 and 6.2.

WMMD will support the cost of a subject specialist for a maximum of two days to work remotely with up to four museums.  A wide range of collections subjects have been covered over the last five years including; agricultural collections, costume, archives, ceramics, pharmaceutical and medical collections, a fluid specimen collection, archaeology, industrial collections, military medals and world cultures.  This list is not exhaustive, and you may have something different which you wish to explore.

Want to know more?

If you would like to discuss the Expert Eye project in more detail please contact helen.johnson@staffordshire.gov.uk

To apply

Please download the Expression of Interest form here.  Expressions of Interest must be returned no later than 5pm, Friday 2 October.

Exceeding visitor expectations ‘despite the distance’

Working in partnership with Welcome to Excellence, WMMD is offering a series of short online training sessions on how to continue to offer exceptional customer service in these extraordinary times.

The programme will draw from ‘Exceeding Visitor Expectations’ and ‘Welcoming all Customers’, covering a refresher on great customer service skills, with added focus on how to create a great visitor experience whilst maintaining Covid-19 safety standards.

Objectives

The objectives of the sessions are to:

• Offer a series of engaging and informative online training sessions which will help to maintain and improve customer service standards
• Support museum front of house teams in handling challenging conversations and situations around maintaining new safety standards – both on the phone/at booking stage, and face to face
• Discuss the changing demographics of visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how best to meet the needs of this new visitor mix
• Help equip teams with the knowledge and confidence to handle feedback and pass it on constructively to senior teams
• Ensure that museums are continuing their focus on accessibility, including how to overcome some of the new challenges to accessibility presented by current restrictions and procedures

Session 1: Exceeding expectations

Tuesday 6 October 10am-12pm via Zoom

This session will look at:

• Understanding visitor expectations
• Booking and pre-arrival
• Welcome and first impressions
• Engaging visitors and building confidence

Book session 1 here.

Session 2: Handling challenges

Tuesday 13 October 1pm-3pm via Zoom

This session will look at:

• The challenges presented by ‘the new normal’
• Anticipating ‘niggles’ and managing expectations
• Handling complaints
• Encouraging visitors to ‘repeat and recommend’

Book session 2 here.

Session 3: Welcoming all customers

Tuesday 20 October 1pm-3pm via Zoom

This session will look at:

• The benefits of an accessible service
• Visible and hidden disabilities
• A positive, welcoming approach
• Tailoring service to be accessible to all

Book session 3 here.

You need to book for each session you wish to attend.

Pre-course activity for each session will be sent to attendees in advance.  Follow up support (email and phone) will be available for attendees to contact the trainer with follow up questions/to request further advice.

You do not need to attend all three sessions but places at each session will be limited to two delegates per organisation. 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.

Digital Access and Inclusion for your Visitors: producing content

A webinar from West Midlands Museum Development.

Being connected in today’s society is imperative to our organisational success, and with that comes the need to ensure that the connection is digitally inclusive.  Digital Inclusion is ensuring that everyone, including disadvantaged groups, has the opportunity to access your organisation virtually and online and is therefore able to participate in, and benefit from, your offer.

Digital inclusive practice is a vital tool in all organisations, no matter what size or budget.  It can support you in challenging preconceptions about your service, it can help to attract non-users and it can increase your reputation as an inclusive organisation where people want to work, volunteer and visit.

This webinar will support you and your museum in creating good, inclusive content. Disability Collaborative Network (DCN) and EMBED will offer solutions and practical tips for getting ready for the post-lockdown world including making content accessible, working with web developers and digital designers, planning content that reaches shielded people, and making changes which are low cost or free and reflective of any budgetary constraints at this time.

This webinar will cover key areas: 

• Understanding the value of digital inclusion
• Exploring the barriers to digital inclusion
• Considering the roles and responsibilities of managers and employees
• Practical advice, tools and tips for embedding digital inclusion in your online offer
• Planning and delivery of online content including key information for your facilities and services
• Working with web designers and developers
• Highlighting the importance of implementing measures of success

Delegates can expect: 

• Engaging and energetic session
• Practical tools and techniques and take away to support inclusion within the museum
• An accessible session for people with varying digital experience

This webinar will be live subtitled and is limited to a maximum two delegates per organisation.

All participants who book on to the webinar will receive an email containing a Zoom link to access the training at least one hour prior to the event.  If you have not received an email by this time please contact us.  Don’t worry you do not need a Zoom account, simply follow the link provided and enter the password.

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.  

Book here.

10.30am-12noon, 26 August – Digital Access and Inclusion for your Visitors: producing content

Family Friendly Reopening

Do you want to understand how families feel about returning to museums and explore ways to create family-friendly approaches in your museum to encourage this audience to visit?

Join us on 12 August at 10.30am for this webinar presented by Kids in Museums which is aimed at staff who work in museums, art galleries and heritage sites who are keen to welcome families back in a safe and positive way.

During this interactive virtual training session Kids in Museums will:

• highlight key areas which have arisen from research into what families are looking for from museums as they reopen
• explore best practice from sites that have reopened in the UK and around the world
• share ideas and challenges which have arisen in your museum to help you come up with creative solutions

This webinar will be live subtitled and is limited to a maximum two delegates per organisation.

All participants who book on to the webinar will receive an email containing a Zoom link to access the training at least one hour prior to the event.  If you have not received an email by this time please contact us.  Don’t worry you do not need a Zoom account, simply follow the link provided and enter the password.

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.  

12 August – Family Friendly Reopening
10.30am-12noon, Webinar

Supporting the Wellbeing of your Workforce during Periods of Uncertainty and Change Webinar

Roots HR CIC will lead a webinar session on 5 August (10.30am-12noon) exploring how you can support the wellbeing of your staff and volunteers over the coming months.

The session will discuss;

• Wellbeing
  • What do we mean by wellbeing and why is it important
  • What impact has the pandemic had on our state of wellbeing
• The “new normal” and wellbeing
  • Factors which may currently be affecting our state of wellbeing e.g. fear of return to the workplace, health concerns, workplace change, possible redundancies
  • How to support your workforce at this time, practical guidance, tips and signposting to additional resources
• A short Q&A

Participants will also have the opportunity to seek advice on specific questions or concerns by booking an individual appointment with Roots HR CIC for a later date.  For more details please contact us.

This webinar will be live subtitled and is limited to a maximum two delegates per organisation.

Delegates will be sent the link to the webinar at least 2 hours before the event.

5 August – Supporting the Wellbeing of your Workforce during Periods of Uncertainty and Change
10.30am-12noon, Webinar

Recovery Grant Applications Open Now

West Midlands Museum Development is pleased to announce its new grant scheme is now open.

The Recovery Grant is part of the West Midlands Museum Development Programme (WMMD), funded by Arts Council England (ACE) with additional funding from Art Fund.

For some museums recovery is about planning to reopen but for others it is about seeking new ways of engagement or looking at an alternative business model whilst remaining closed until next season.  The Recovery Grants aim to provide support for both.  Whether it is reopening or remaining closed applicants are required to ensure approaches address equality and accessibility.

Museums can apply for £500 to £10,000.  The £60k fund will be split equally over two grant panels.

The deadline for the first panel is 5pm, Friday 28 August 2020.  The deadline for the second panel is 5pm, Friday 9 October 2020.

To apply

Please read the Guidance before completing the Application Form

Eligibility

• The Recovery Grant will support Accredited museums or those formally Working Towards Accreditation in the West Midlands that were ineligible for ACE’s Emergency Response Fund, Historic England or National Lottery Heritage Fund’s (NLHF) Heritage Emergency Fund
• Museums that have been unsuccessful in applying for the ACE, Historic England and NLHF funds may apply
• Museums that were successful for WMMD Emergency Funding are eligible to apply
• National Portfolio Organisations and National museums are not eligible to apply

Please note:

• We will prioritise applications from museums located in areas of low cultural engagement, where the museum is the main cultural offer in a locality, and/or where museums that have niche collections outside the larger city institutions.
• Your application will be presented to the first available grant panel after its receipt
• You may only apply once
• We encourage applicants to carefully consider the value of their grant requested in order to support as many museums as possible
• We strongly recommend that you discuss your application with your Museum Development Officer before you submit it

Guidance on reopening museums published

Reopening guidance for the museum sector has been published today (25 June) by National Museums Directors’ Council (NMDC) and Association of Independent Museums (AIM).

‘NMDC Good Practice Guidelines on Opening Museums After July 4th’

Published by NMDC with support from DCMS and the Museums and Galleries Working Group, these guidelines are intended to help employers, employees and the self-employed, and volunteers in the museum sector in England understand how to work safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The guidelines should:

• provide a set of practical considerations museums will want to work through before a museum is ready to reopen
• be used in conjunction with COVID-safe guidelines published by HM Government, and is intended to enhance, not supplant existing regulations
• sit alongside and inform existing business practices and standard structures museums already consider when managing risk and conducting business planning activities

The guidelines will periodically be updated when new Government guidance becomes available as we move through different steps of adjustment to lockdown.

To read more and to download the guidance click here.

AIM and Museum Development Network (MDN) Checklist

Small Grant Scheme Emergency Funding Now Open

How could up to £3,000 help support your museum during the Covid-19 pandemic?

The Small Grant Scheme is part of the West Midlands Museum Development Programme (WMMD), funded by Arts Council England (ACE).

The Small Grant Scheme will support museums in the West Midlands that were ineligible for either ACE’s Emergency Response Fund or National Lottery Heritage Fund’s (NLHF) Heritage Emergency Fund or are not in receipt of funding from these schemes.

We will prioritise applications that demonstrate urgent need for support to stabilise the museum to allow future operation and/or protect heritage during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Please read the Guidance and contact your Museum Development Officer before completing the Application Form (pdf version available on request).

This is a rolling fund. The grant panel will meet fortnightly with first grant offers made on 23 June and then fortnightly on 7 July, 21 July and 4 August 2020.  Your application will be presented to the first available grant panel after its receipt.

The closing date for the final panel is 9am, Wednesday 29 July 2020.

Small Grant Guidance FINAL Small Grant Application form FINAL