Contents:

• West Midlands Museum Development Update
• West Midlands Museum Development Events
• Other Events
• News
• Opportunities

Small Grants Scheme

Ten museums have been awarded a total of £25,734 in the 2016-17 Small Grants Scheme.  The scheme will be available again in 2017-18.

Capital Grant Scheme

We will be launching the 'Ready to Borrow' capital grant scheme on 19 October with representatives from four national museums.  See the WMMD Events section for more details.

Archaeology Rationalisation Report

Following the Archaeology Rationalisation report commissioned in year one of the programme a symposium is being held on 15 November at Ironbridge.  For more details see the WMMD events section.

Access Audits

14 museums have received their Access Audit report which assessed the museum's physical and social accessibility and makes constructive recommendations.  The report can be used to support Accreditation returns and future funding bids.

Donation Boxes

RBSA, Stafford Castle and Staffordshire Archives and Heritage Service have taken place in the Objects of Significance programme.  An interactive donation box has been designed for each partner by artist Andy Hazell based on key objects from the collections at their site.  We will give more information about this project including the donation boxes in action shortly.

12 October – Strategic Communications Planning

10am – 5pm, The Production Office at the Lighthouse, Wolverhampton

Have you considered how the media can help to promote your museum?
Do you have a communication plan in place?

This practical course is aimed at anyone faced with developing a communications strategy; remembering that good communication is as important internally as externally! Attendees will develop skills and knowledge to develop a strategy by exploring the benefits of market research, understanding competitors (and who they are) and identifying USP’s (unique selling points).

This workshop delivered by Jane Bevan of Firebird Public Relations will help to:

• Dispel the myths around ‘the media’
• Provide practical and comprehensive guidance
• Build confidence to help you tell your story

Delegates will also be offered a behind the scenes tour of the cinema with Kelly Jeffs, Lighthouse CEO and Projectionist Jas Kapur.

13 October – The Basics of Volunteer Management

10am – 4pm, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Coalbrookdale

This session will cover the basics of Volunteer Management including:

• How to recruit your volunteers
• Role profiles, policies and data collection
• Training and recognition, how to retain your volunteers
• How to motivate and get the most out of your volunteers

NEW

19 October – Are you ‘Ready to Borrow’?

Ready to Borrow Capital Grants Launch Event

10am – 4pm, New Art Gallery Walsall

Don’t miss the opportunity to bid for up to £50,000 to get your museum ready to borrow an iconic object from one of our National Museums!

The Ready to Borrow capital grants scheme is funded by Arts Council England and is specifically designed to support museums to make capital improvements in their gallery spaces. Up to £50,000 is available for Accredited museums to raise security standards, improving display and environmental conditions within galleries and enable them to borrow collections held by National Museums and Major Partner Museums.

Speakers from the National Gallery, British Museum, V&A and Tate will also be there to discuss the collections they hold and opportunities to borrow some amazing items. To find out more about the funding, think creatively about borrowing and to talk directly to some of the National Museums about their collections book a place below.

NEW

15 November - Off the Shelf: Understanding & Supporting Archaeology Collections in West Midlands Museums

10am-4pm, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Coalbrookdale

In January 2016 Ironbridge Archaeology was commissioned by West Midlands Museum Development to undertake a programme of research with a view to better understanding the current situation with regards to museum-held archaeological collections in the West Midlands.

This one day symposium will present the research and recommendations from the report and provide an opportunity to debate how to raise the profile of underused archaeological collections in the West Midlands Region and the creation of stronger links between museums holding archaeological material and non-museum bodies.

Join Ironbridge Archaeology and West Midlands Museum Development for this lively and informative event.

27 October - Culture24’s Let’s Get Real Conference

Can we reinvent our online cultural offer? comes to the Whitworth, Manchester on 27 October

How can arts and heritage organisations get better at recognising, articulating and generating value from online cultural retail? It’s a hot topic as public funding is squeezed and we look for new income streams and business models that align with our cultural offer. How can we respond to the behaviours of today’s audiences and reinvent our offer online? What new products, services, markets are realistic for us? Can we find a sweet spot between culture and commerce? Is it all just hype or can we grow this sustainably?

Join Culture24 for a day of keynotes, conversations, critique and provocations, and get fresh strategies and tips on how to generate more income online from top industry experts, entrepreneurs and cultural thinkers. Whatever the size of your cultural or heritage organisation, you will go away inspired by a powerful mix of strategic thinking and practical solutions.

They'll also have their unique Crit Room offering you professional advice live on stage from industry experts from Facebook and Pottermore, plus the best after-conference party ever with artist Tine Bech and her art treasure hunt for grown-ups as part of the Museums at Night festival!

Find out more and book your tickets now: http://letsgetrealconference.com/

30 November - Royal Pavilion and Museums' Workforce Development Conference

A day-long, national conference on workforce development in the cultural sector hosted by Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. £50 (£40 concessions for students and volunteers) 

Royal Pavilion & Museums (RPM) has been developing a pioneering Workforce Development Programme since 2012, to build a skilled, engaged and entrepreneurial workforce by enabling frontline staff to work in departments and on projects across the organisation. Using this as a springboard for discussion, it now hosts a conference for colleagues across the sector.

The all-day event, co-organised and run by RPM’s own Workforce Development Programme participants, includes case studies, short presentations, tours, workshops and break-out sessions. Find out more and book tickets:  http://www.brightonmuseums.org.uk/workforce2016

6 December - British Museum- Free Collections Care Skills Sharing Sessions The Nimrud Ivories: Storage

This half day uses a specific and current project to provide a live insight into practical aspects of a collections care storage pilot to assess, document and pack 6000 ivories that make up the Nimrud Ivory Collection.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-nimrud-ivories-storage-tickets-28287642099

This session has been developed based on feedback from the sector which felt there could be support developed around certain collections and material types. More sessions will be added in November.

Let’s Get Real – Young Audiences Phase 2:
Seize the opportunity to better engage young people digitally

Finding ways to better reach and engage children and young people is becoming even more of a priority for arts and heritage organisations, as well as for funders. Digital technologies and digital content provide an incredible opportunity to do this. Are you grasping this opportunity or letting it slip through your fingers?  If you think you and your organisation could be doing more then you need to act NOW.

Do something proactive today by signing up to Culture24’s collaborative action research project Let’s Get Real – Young Audiences Phase 2 to learn how to get better at serving the changing needs of children and young people through digital technologies and your digital content. You will learn from others, including experts in the field and young people themselves, learn through doing by practically testing out your ideas and learn together with your peers in a collaborative, supportive environment.

Find out more and sign up here

Deadline is 31 October 2016

MA/ MDN Annual Museums Survey

The national Museum Development Network (MDN) and the Museums Association (MA) are currently undertaking a UK wide survey of museums. If you haven’t already, they would like to ask you to complete the survey on behalf of your museum or museum service.

Museums of all sizes and types are urged to complete the survey in order to build a comprehensive picture of current state of the museum sector across the UK. The data it provides will be used to inform national and regional policy and advocacy work by the MA and ourselves, including contributing to the current DCMS Museums Review in England.

You can complete the survey online here: http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/museumssurvey201516/

The deadline for completing the survey is Friday 28 October 2016.

How to complete the survey
• All figures should be for the financial period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016.
• We know that sometimes providing an exact figure can be hard so if you do not have actual data, please provide your best estimate.
• You can save and return to the survey at any time by clicking 'Save and Continue Later' at the bottom of any page of the online survey.

Questions about the survey
• The survey is being carried out by the MA and the national Museum Development Network. The data you provide will be shared between the MA and MDN in order to improve data quality and reduce survey duplication.
• If you have any questions about completing the survey you can contact tom.newman@bristol.gov.uk.

Heritage Lottery Fund launches new
£8m Resilient Heritage Fund
to safeguard heritage in challenging times

The Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) Start Up and Transition funding programmes have been replaced by a new funding programme Resilient Heritage.

Under Resilient Heritage your museum can apply for grants of £3,000-£250,000 to help you to strengthen your organisation, build the capacity of your staff and volunteers or achieve strategic change to better manage heritage in the long term.

You may be facing challenges around income and fundraising, or you might be preparing to take on new forms of investment, such as social investment, and funding from Resilient Heritage can support this process.

There are no deadlines for applications and this programme can be used to fund all activities previously covered by Start Up and Transition Funding. You do not have to do all the work at once and you may seek funding for initial activities to help determine next steps.  You can find out more and read the application guidance, which takes you through the process question by question, on HLF’s resilient heritage webpage. 

HLF has also created a new diagnostic tool, the Resilient Heritage strength checker, to help you analyse how your organisation currently works and identify any areas of strengths and weakness you could address with the help of our funding. We also encourage you to get advice on any initial ideas by submitting a project enquiry and you can chat to other grantees who've already been there and done it themselves through HLF’s online communities.

Case Study: The Pen Museum

At a time of financial uncertainty, the Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Association received a grant of £19,500 to help plan for a sustainable future.  The ‘Write into the Future – Steps to sustainability’ project included updating the museum’s business models to create new income streams and a training programme for trustees. Read the full story on HLF’s webpage.

Recent Award: The Carpet Museum

The carpet museum has secured £49,200 to work with a variety of consultants to improve the museum’s offer and establish a financially sustainable operating model.

You can also read all the comments from the recent live chat about resilient heritage on the HLF online communities:
https://www.hlf.org.uk/community/live-chats/resilient-heritage-4-august-1230-130pm

Heritage Volunteering Group Update

Heritage Lottery Fund Update:

• During Volunteers Week, HLF launched their new Volunteer Good Practice Guidance, this is now available online @ www.hlf.org.uk/volunteering
• Coming up in Autumn, the HLF will be launching ‘Kick the Dust’, an engagement programme aimed at young people. For more information visit: www.hlf.org.uk/community/young-people-and-heritage-forum/why-kick-dust-research-and-consultation

 NCVO Update:

• The latest update from NCVO is now up and can be found here: http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/2016/09/15/volunteering-round-up-september-2016/. One of our favourite parts of the blog is “Giving Volunteers a Good Experience”, it’s well worth a read.
• NCVO have recently update their guidance on Volunteering whilst on benefits as the online jobcentre leaflet on the government’s website has been withdrawn. We then decided that more guidance was needed to replace this. The guidance has been checked by DWP and is now available here: www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering/volunteering-and-benefits

Heritage Volunteering Group Conference 2017:

Next year’s conference will be taking place at The National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff. Planning is under way at the moment and they will have more news later in the year.

Heritage Volunteering Group Networking Event:

To help facilitate peer support for those of you who run regional heritage volunteering groups, they are planning on running a networking session at the Museum of London, during January or February. As with the conference, planning is in the early stages and there will be more information to follow later in the year.

To Charge Or Not To Charge? AIM Launches Admissions Charging Research

AIM has just published new research to help museums understand the impact of charging for admission, or not, on all aspects of operating a successful museum. The revealing results dispel some myths that persist around this issue and will enable museums to make evidence-based decisions in this sometimes contentious area – but one that is vital to museums’ future sustainability.  The research report is accompanied by a new AIM Success Guide: Successfully Setting Admissions Policy and Pricing that museums can use to help them make decisions about whether an admission charge is right for their museum and if so, what price they should set. The report and practical guide are now available to download from the AIM website in English and Welsh. Evaluating the Evidence, The Impact of Charging or Not for Admissions on Museums

Arts And Heritage Sector Explores Potential Of Matched Crowdfunding

Individuals and organisations with ideas for new projects in the arts and heritage sectors are encouraged to  register their interest in an innovative new crowdfunding programme set to launch on September 14 2016. This pilot scheme, outlined in the government’s Culture White Paper, is the result of a partnership between UK innovation foundation Nesta, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England (ACE) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The VisitEngland Awards For Excellence 2017 Opens

VisitEngland has launched its 2017 Awards for Excellence in tourism - the 28th year of the prize. The 19 categories include small and large visitor attraction of the year and awards for inclusive and sustainable tourism. The deadline for most categories is mid-October, but some end earlier. Judges will visit the venues from October to February, with the winners announced in April 2017 The VisitEngland Awards For Excellence

Consultancy Opportunity: Isle of Wight Cultural Strategy

In July 2016 a group of seven heritage / cultural organisations from the Isle of Wight were successful with a collaborative bid to the Arts Council of England Museums’ Resilience Fund.

The bid’s stated objective was to “…identify a new, collaborative, fit-for-purpose, business model capable of challenging - and changing - the IW cultural sector’s current ‘direction of travel’.”

At the core of the bid was an undertaking to commission an independent agency that would bring forward recommendations for collaborative working and new practices that would radically improve the reach, fortunes and resilience of the Island’s heritage and cultural sector.

The partnered organisations are now seeking to appoint an experienced consultant / agency able to re-shape the Island’s heritage and cultural landscape.  The partners are seeking an appointee who will be able to bring forward recommendations for:

• Re-modelling the sector on a more collaborative, joined-up, basis
• Maximising the use of scarce financial, human and environmental resources
• Fostering an environment that is conducive to innovation and invention

For full details of this opportunity, please download the briefing document available from http://southeastmuseums.org/news-and-opportunities?item=2393#.V-4xmv4VAdU

Deadline for submissions: 9am Monday 10 October 2016

Tender Invitation – Fundraiser, Museum Sector, Hereford

Specialist fundraisers are invited to tender for a contract with the Herefordshire Museum Services Support Group (HMSSG) for the purpose of undertaking direct income generation and fundraising activities which will contribute to Herefordshire Council’s income generation targets set for its Museum Services. The contract, which  is to begin in November 2016 and to be completed by end of May 2017, is to the total value of £10,500  for a number of days’ work to be agreed. 

For further information and to be sent the full tender details, email Miriam Griffiths (Acting Chair, HMSSG) 

The closing date for submission of tenders is Friday 21 October 2016.

Images courtesy of Lee Allen Photography