Deadline: 31-Mar-23
The Heritage Fund is accepting applications for Dynamic Collections to support collecting organisations across the UK to become more inclusive and resilient, with a focus on engagement, re-interpretation and collections management.
Collections help to bring to life the many stories of people and communities across the UK.
At the Heritage Fund, they want to support museums, libraries, archives and other organisations to make the most of their collections.
The Dynamic Collections campaign will support collecting organisations by bringing together project funding through their open programmes, digital resources and knowledge sharing.
It is designed to address long-term challenges in the sector, many of which have been made worse by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It will also help organisations build on innovative ideas and trends developed over the past few years, particularly in digital engagement.
The campaign also acts on the demand for collections to evolve to meet the changing needs of the communities around them, and to reflect more people’s history and experiences.
Priorities
They have three funding priorities for collections – engagement, re-interpretation and better collections management.
- Engagement
- They want to fund projects that transform the way people engage with collections, and make the long-term changes needed to build a diverse audience.
- They will fund projects that:
- Focus on audiences to understand how best to connect people with collections – whether through digital activities, bringing collections to people and/or encouraging on-site visits
- Collaborate with audiences to create content and activities, and involve people in decision making around collections
- Build capacity in organisations to strengthen engagement now and in the future, for example by supporting leaders, staff and volunteers to gain skills and confidence
- Re-interpretation
- They want to fund projects that will help people whose experiences have previously been excluded to feel represented and heard. they want to fund projects that reflect the richness and complexity of UK heritage through collections.
- They will fund projects that:
- Bring new perspectives and contexts to collections on display and/or in storage
- Create new interpretation or refresh tired displays to reflect more people’s stories and experiences
- Explore the history and role of the organisation with audiences and how collections have been built and explained over time
- Collections management
- They want to fund projects that will bring new solutions to long-term issues in collections care and use, and lead to more efficient collections management and development.
- For example, they will fund:
- Collections reviews leading to strategic development and/or rationalisation
- New partnerships and/or management arrangements between organisations to share infrastructure, expertise or other resources
- Loans programmes to enable greater public access to collections
- Projects using digital technology to better manage collections and stores.
Funding Information
- They expect applicants to apply for a grant below £250,000.
Outcomes
- Up to the end of financial year 2022–2023, they ’re prioritising heritage projects that will meet six of their outcomes as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are:
- A wider range of people will be involved in heritage (This is a mandatory outcome. Every project they fund must achieve their mandatory outcome as a minimum.)
- The funded organisation will be more resilient
- People will have greater wellbeing
- People will have developed skills
- The local area will be a better place to live, work or visit
- The local economy will be boosted.
Eligible Projects
- As the sector continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic, they are keen to support projects that plan for longer-term change and benefits for visitors, audiences and organisations.
- They want to support projects that:
- Make collections relevant to a wider range of people
- Actively involve the public in collections management, use and development
- Take a creative, strategic and sustainable approach to collections.
Eligibility Criteria
- Dynamic Collections is primarily aimed at collecting organisations, including:
- Museums (accredited and non-accredited)
- Archives
- Historic libraries
- Community and other organisations that hold collections, or are working in partnership to develop a collection-based project.
For more information, visit https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/our-work/dynamic-collections
