Welcome to your April Newsletter!

This April we have a bumper issue of our newsletter, as we bring you not one, not two, but three grant programmes launching this month!

We also have a wrap up of the Volunteering Fit 4 the Future programme, where you can read about the outcomes of the programme and how the participating museums will be moving forward. 

That's not all, as we're also announcing national Carbon Literacy and Collections Trust training, now available to book through our website. You can also find in this issue wider sector news and grants, as well as an update on museum Accreditation.

On Display! is back again this year – but not as you know it. With thanks to funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), On Display! will help museums improve the display and security of their collections. Museums can apply for up to £3000 to enhance their visitor experience through areas such as improved display cases, collection care, security measures such as alarms and CCTV, and overall exhibit presentation. Applications open on Monday 28 April and close on Monday 19 May.

To support museums in commemorating 80 years since Victory in Europe Day and Victory in Japan Day, DCMS has announced a one-off grant scheme: Victory 80 – Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan Commemoration Programme. Five museums in the South West area will each receive £20,000 in funding to develop creative and cultural community engagement projects community-driven activities that honour the legacy of the Second World War that focus on Second World War history. This grant programme operates through an initial Expression of Interest (EOI) prior to full application and will close on Monday 14 April. To request  discuss a potential application or enquire about an EOI form please speak to either your Museum Development Officer or email museum.development@bristol.gov.uk.

Eleven museums, from Liskeard to Swindon, have been working alongside each other for the last nine months to review their volunteer involvement as part of the Volunteering Fit 4 the Future programme. During the programme, participating museums have been supported by Eleanor Moore, our Sustainable Volunteering Officer, and their local, place-based Museum Development Officers (MDOs).

Now that this fully funded programme is drawing to a close, and museums are putting their thinking into action, we’re taking a look back at what’s been achieved in our latest blog. Have a read and find out what the participant museums have been up to and what they will be doing differently as a result of the programme.

Volunteers' Week 2025 runs from Monday 2 June to Sunday 8 June. This is the time to: 

• Thank volunteers 
• Celebrate the impact that volunteering has for the museum  
• Spread the word about live volunteering opportunities  

Royal West of England Academy in Bristol interviewed four volunteers for Volunteer’s Week in 2024 and highlighted the huge contribution every hour of volunteering makes. They asked these volunteers why they volunteer and for their ideas. 
 
Volunteers' Week has lots of resources to help you, whatever you decide to do! Have a look at their practical tips to make an event a success, branding and frames for social media and prompts to capture a volunteer’s story. Sometimes the simplest actions are the best – what about handwritten thank you cards from the Director or Chair? 
  
If you do decide to focus on recruitment, make sure your volunteering opportunities stand out – put yourself in the shoes of the volunteer and emphasise the benefits of volunteering to them. Explain every role clearly and the important difference it makes to your museum.  
 
Get ahead and take a look at how to get the most from Volunteers Week now!

Arts Council England have posted a new blog outlining what's in scope for the Accreditation redesign in 2025, from Isabel Wilson, Senior Manager for the Accreditation Scheme. Tim and Phil highly recommend giving it a read and if you have any questions about Accreditation please do get in touch. 

This month there is a new Accreditation achievement in the South West to celebrate, congratulations to Arundells in Wiltshire!

Engaging your first young Trustees

Sign up to Kids in Museums' new, free programme to support you to recruit young Trustees at your museum, gallery or heritage organisation. This training and networking programme is for Trustees and staff from museums and heritage organisations interested in appointing young people aged 18-30 to their boards and for young people interested in becoming museum Trustees.

They have up to eight free places available for museums from England for the programme thanks to funding from Arts Council England. There is an online information session for museums interested in the programme on 10 April at 2pm.

Carbon Literacy and Collections Trust national training now available to book

The Collections Trust and Museum Development North Roots & Branches project have released training on Spectrum and carbon literacy which are available for all museums in England to book on to. 

Training from Collections Trust includes:

• A brief introduction to the Spectrum standard  
  
• A brief introduction to Object entry
  
• A brief introduction to Acquisition and accessioning
  
• A brief introduction to Location and movement control
• A brief introduction to Inventory

There will also be a Documentation in Practice Online Symposium on Wednesday 23 April, with a range of speakers offering practical advice. There are limited places available for all of these sessions, so book on today! 

As part of their Roots & Branches project, Museum Development North have a number of upcoming Carbon Literacy for Museums training courses, as well as Seeds for Action online workshops to help museums implement action on climate change. 

Heritage Creates Report

As a part of Heritage Day 2025, the Heritage Alliance has published a new Heritage Creates report, illustrating how heritage underpins the success of the creative industries through a series of impactful member case studies.

This report explores the vital relationship between heritage and the creative industries through five key themes:

• Heritage as a Host: How heritage venues support creative activities
• Heritage as a Muse: How our history inspires creative outputs
• Heritage as a Creative Practice: The importance of heritage crafts and traditions
• Innovative Partnerships: Creative solutions to modern challenges
• Inclusive Partnerships: Broadening access and unveiling hidden stories

Museum Estate and Development Fund: Round 5

This is an open-access capital fund targeted at non-national Accredited museums and local authorities based in England to apply for funding to undertake vital infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlogs which are beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets.

Accredited museums will be able to apply for grants of between £50,000 to £5m for essential infrastructure projects and urgent maintenance backlogs. Expressions of interest will open on 12 May.

Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund

The Museums Association are launching a programme of grant-making, networking and learning dissemination for health and wellbeing programmes in museums, funded by the Julia Rausing Trust. Grants will enable the development and continuation of health and wellbeing programmes in UK museums during a time of financial crisis and increasing demand for services.

The fund will open for applications on 28 April with a deadline for final submissions by 26 June 2025. There will be a second round in 2026. They will make around 10 grants of £50,000 to £75,000 per round.

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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