Welcome to your May Newsletter!
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By the looks of the weather, summer is well and truly here, so what better time is there to launch our summer SW Museum Skills programme? Find national training programmes as well as forums and essential training now available to book in this newsletter. Mark your diaries - our Capacity Builder and On Display! grants close on Monday 19 May. Get your museum's application in before it's too late! And don't forget, you can always ask your local Museum Development Officer to check it over before submission. Lastly, we have an update from our new Gloucestershire Museum Development Officer, Julie Taylor Kent, as she inputs on a new cultural strategy for Gloucester. |
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SW Museum Skills summer programme
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Our summer programme of training includes popular topics such as developing a learning offer for secondary schools and grant application writing. Get prepared for Volunteers Week 2025 with a special edition of our Volunteering Forum in May. Talking of which, we’re running a session especially for volunteers on museum documentation, which will be run by Collections Trust and covers standard processes and procedures. You can also book onto a wide range of national training from Collections Trust, covering inventory to acquisitions and much more. If you’re looking to reduce your museum’s environmental impact, then there is support available for those who want to undertake the Carbon Literacy for Museums training, as well as for those who are already certified. |
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You now have less than three weeks to apply for one of our On Display! or Capacity Builder grants. Both of these grants close for applications at 12 Noon on Monday 19 May. Eligible museums in the South West can apply for an On Display! grant 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. Capacity Builder grants can be used to help individuals, teams or groups of museums engage with training and other continuing professional development activities. Individuals can be paid staff, volunteers, or trustees. How could your museum use one of our grants? Take a look at our blog for inspiration and find out how previous grant holders used theirs. |
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Focus on... Gloucestershire
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On Wednesday 30 April, Gloucestershire Museum Development Officer Julie Taylor Kent joined other professionals from the culture sector, and residents, across Gloucester at Gloucester Guildhall to discuss a new cultural strategy for Gloucester, hosted by Gloucester Cultural Trust (GCT). Museum Development Officers can bring a useful collective understanding of museums and heritage organisations in a locality and also provide evidence of the sector’s social and economic impact through applying data such as from the Annual Museum Survey. Julie has shared her top five takeaways from the day:
- The energy in the room – a packed session did not create any shrinking violets. There was no shortage of ideas and enthusiasm in Gloucester and this strategy consultation will be very well supported.
- Streamlining how to make things happen - one of the key barriers that was discussed was not the shortage of skills, talent, and creative energy in Gloucester but the need for clear and well managed support structures to develop and move projects forward.
- Pride in the city – the knowledge of Gloucester past, present, future and how to use culture to connect people to the place where they live.
- Connecting the dots of a creative community – there are various arts and heritage organisations and forums in the city. How do producers know who is planning what, where partnerships could be forged, opportunities to work together and add value to each other’s work?
- DIY but with a community of supporters – participants self-organised to shape the conversations they wanted to have, deliver their own sessions to each other and to feedback to all at the end of the day.
Julie's highlight – At the end of the day attendees were invited to share reflections, calls to action etc. Many people had enjoyed the process, many had met old friends, but importantly met new people and made new connections. One attendee responded that they had felt safe and said “I haven’t had to edit anything I have said, and it has all been relevant to those around us”. A Safe Open Space – music to my ears. |
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Kids in Museums summer training programmeA new season of training with Kids in Museums is now live and available to book. Learn how to help families with additional needs to get more from their visit with sensory backpacks, explore how to support young people’s mental health and find out more about engaging families with LGBTQ+ content at your museum. There’s also a free webinar exploring how to make a Takeover Day work for your museum. With prices ranging from £5 - £40, Kids in Museums training is a great way to develop skills, knowledge – and to confidently welcome more children, families and young people to your museum.
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Heritage Science Data Service User Needs SurveyThe National Heritage Science Forum (NHSF) has launched a new survey to investigate user needs to inform development of the Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS). The consultation is being conducted on behalf of HSDS, as part of the Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science programme. The research will test proposed elements of the HSDS during development to gain feedback from a wide range of users. Heritage science covers disciplines including archaeology, conservation, materials science, art history, physics, robotics and computer science. If you create or use heritage science data as an employee, volunteer or student, you are encouraged to complete this survey. Your feedback will help shape and build the HSDS. The survey should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete and you can respond as either an organisation or an individual. The survey will remain open until Saturday 31 May 2025.
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Museum Renewal FundThe Museum Renewal Fund from Arts Council England is designed for museums that are either directly funded by local authorities or have governance ties with them. The Fund will enable vital community engagement work and public access to museums in 2025/26. Between £10,000 and £1 million is available per museum, applications close Thursday 22 May.
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The Textile Society - Museum, Archive and Conservation AwardThe Textile Society is awarding up to £5,000 annually for textile related projects with an educational focus. The Museum, Archive and Conservation Award is designed to support textile related projects within a museum, archive or conservation studio for an exhibition, publication or conservation project that will help achieve greater awareness and access for the public. They invite applications from all museums, archives and conservation studios with Accredited or provisionally Accredited status. The closing date is Sunday 1 June.
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Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections FundThe Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund is now open for applications. The fund encourages using museum collections to improve inclusion and equitable working with community partners. The Museums Association awards the fund on behalf of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and have awarded over £14m in nearly 200 grants since 2011. The next deadline for submissions of interest is Wednesday 16 July.
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The best ways to get in touch are via the form on our website or by emailing museum.development@bristol.gov.ukIf you think a colleague or friend would like to keep up to date with Museum Development South West, please forward this email or encourage them to join our newsletter by clicking below: |
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