Welcome to Your April Newsletter!
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Welcome to your first official newsletter from Museum Development South West. Take a look at our brand new website and find out more about our upcoming programme. In this newsletter we're launching our Small Open Grants 2024, which awards up to £10,000 for small but impactful projects. We also have a new blog on the Travelling Together celebrating event held in Taunton last month, as well as your usual round up of sector news. |
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We’re delighted to announce our new grant funding rounds for 2024/25. This year there will be five opportunities to secure funding from us, made possible with support from Arts Council England and Art Fund. Over the year, our grant schemes range from supporting individuals to develop specific skills, to supporting museums to engage with schools in meaningful ways: |
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- Small Open Grants
- Capacity Builder x2
- On Display!
- Talking Nature
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You can find out about all of the upcoming grant streams on our website, including Small Open Grants which launches on Thursday 4 April and closes on Monday 13 May. Grants are available from £1,000 to £10,000 to power change and improvement. We’re looking to invest in museums where our funding will make a difference and are particularly keen to support those who have designed their projects after taking part in previous development work with us. |
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In March, team members, participants and supporters gathered in Taunton to celebrate our National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England funded project Travelling Together. As the project nears its end, it was an opportunity for the cohort museums, Champions and Steering Group members to reflect on the progress they have made and what they have gained from the experience. |
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Travelling Together has been a huge springboard for many museums to develop and action their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion aspirations. Continued access to peer support and expert input will ensure the legacy of this project by embedding long-term change both in our participant museums in museums across the South West.
We now have a full write up of the celebration event available on our website, so you can find out how our project participants got on and what they will be doing differently as a result of the project.
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Focus on... West of England
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For 2024, Julie Taylor Kent will be providing support to museums in the West of England as their Museum Development Officer. Julie is an experienced museum professional with a specialism in front of house team management and visitor experience delivery.
The Travelling Together Peer Networking sessions were a great way to meet South West museum professionals, both online and in-person at the Roman Baths and Aerospace Bristol, who made Julie feel welcome on some of her first site visits. She is busy ticking off visits to museums in her area and will be getting in touch to arrange a hello.
Julie says, "Its been lovely meeting new people who have been so generous with their time, giving me tours of sites and chatting future plans".
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South West Museums Nominated in Museums + Heritage AwardsCongratulations to all the South West museums who have made the shortlist for the Museums and Heritage Awards 2024! The American Museum & Gardens are up for the Café or Restaurant of the Year category, the No.1 Royal Crescent Front of House Team are up for Team of the Year, and The Tank Museum are up for Marketing and Communications Campaign of the Year. For the Sustainable Project of the Year category, Art Fund have been nominated on behalf of all the museums who took part in The Wild Escape, including over 100 museums from the South West. Manchester Museum and Museum Development North West have also been nominated in that category for Roots and Branches, the project which developed Carbon Literacy for Museums training many South West museums have completed.
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Registration for Heritage Open Days Festival is OpenJoin England's largest festival of history and culture, Heritage Open Days, in its 30th anniversary year, from the 6 to 15 September. This year, the festival is exploring the theme 'Routes – Networks – Connections' and heritage organisations across the UK have been submitting events as part of Heritage Open Days. Submit your event as soon as possible to be in the long lead press release, the deadline to register is Thursday 8 August.
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GEM Conference 2024GEM Conference 2024 is taking place at M Shed, Bristol, between 11 and 13 September. The theme of this year's conference is The Value of Learning. Engage with thought-provoking keynotes, insightful member presentations and topical panel discussions. Amplify your expertise through hands-on workshops and site visits, gaining a comprehensive understanding of best practices in museum learning.
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Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Levelling Up ProgrammeFunding for registered charities, community groups, Community Interest Companies, businesses and Town and Parish Councils in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. An Expression of Interest can be made at any time up to December 2024 or until the available funding is fully committed (whichever comes first).
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The Emerton-Christie CharitySmall grants, usually for either £1,000, £2,000 or £3,000 are available to UK registered charities for core funding or project costs. The charity’s main areas of focus are: education, training, disability, health, arts, culture, heritage, environment, conservation and science. Applications close Saturday 31 August 2024.
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The best ways to get in touch are via the form on our website or emailing museum.development@bristol.gov.uk
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If you know of colleagues who are not able to access emails at home we would be happy to send a newsletter in hard copy. Please do call/email us to request this. |
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Photo credits (in order as they appear):
South West Museum Development content: |
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