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Industrial Heritage Support Update, April to June 2021

July 20, 2021mikenevell

April saw the second round of COVID-19 recovery grants, with Historic England (HE) distributing over £8m to 64 sites, and Arts Council England (ACE) distributing £13.5 million to 72 sites. Railways accounted for over 50% of the sites receiving support from HE in April, whilst ACE support was spread across a wider range of industrial sites in this round.

*Headstocks at Blists Hill, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust*. *This was one of the first industrial heritage sites to re-open in Spring 2021.*

Smaller sites such as wind and watermills are notable absentees from both lists. However, it should be noted that application for funds in both rounds was entirely voluntary. There are limited reports of further redundancies in the first five months of 2021, but there were fewer reports of vandalism and trespass on industrial heritage sites.

The 17th May saw further easing of the COVID restrictions for indoor venues and marked the beginning of a mass re-opening of industrial heritage sites in England. As during the summer re-opening of 2020, this was led by the larger open-air industrial museums and the Heritage Railways sector. A rapid online review of industrial archaeology and heritage websites and facebook pages was undertaken at the end of June to assess the level of re-opening of sites. Many industrial sites re-opened between mid-May and the end of June, with roughly 50% open by 30 June. More are planning on re-opening in July and August as restrictions are lifted.

The Industrial Heritage Networks (IHNs) are a key part of the Industrial Heritage Support project, and were set up in 2018 with the help of the Association for Industrial Archaeology and the Association of Independent Museums. These IHNs meet twice a year, online, to discuss current issues and opportunities for those running industrial heritage sites. The first round of online IHN meetings for London, the North West, West Midlands, South West, North East, Cornwall & Devon, and South East were held between October 2020 and April 2021. 82 individuals from 60 organisations took part in these network meetings, with a key theme being the impact of the pandemic on volunteers. A further round of online meetings will be held in the autumn and winter of 2021/22.

IHNs are currently being set up for the East Midlands, East of England, and Yorkshire with online meetings planned for July, August, and September. If you work or volunteer in industrial heritage in these regions and want to get involved in sharing knowledge and experience through the new IHNs, please contact the IHSO, Dr Mike Nevell.

NHMF Launches £40 Million COVID Impact Funding

July 13, 2021mikenevell

The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) have announced a new funding stream to save heritage assets at risk of loss due to the impact of Covid-19. Charities, not-for-profit, and public sector organisations are welcome to apply over the next two years. There are no deadlines for applications.

The new fund is formed from £20m from NHMF reserves, plus an extra £20m from the Government to safeguard heritage assets in England. To apply, you must first submit an Expression of Interest, and you are encouraged to contact NHMF beforehand. More information about the fund and how to apply can be found at: https://www.nhmf.org.uk/funding/covid-19-response-fund

COVID-Recovery Regional Funds Now Available from the Museum Development UK Network

July 9, 2021mikenevell

Since 2020, MDUK https://mduk.org.uk/ and The Art Fund have forged a new partnership to distribute recovery funding to museums across the UK. Recovery Grants and Programmes are administrated by the UK-wide Museum Development providers with grants of up to £5000 available. Follow the links below for details of the support funds available for these English regions:

Museum Development North East

Museum Development Yorkshire

Museum Development North West

Museum Development East Midlands

Museum Development West Midlands

Museum Development East of England (SHARE Museums East)

Museum Development London

Museum Development South East

Museum Development South West

Some examples of activities for which grants can be used include:

Online ticketing software or contactless payment / donation equipment
Consultancy on reviewing your business model
Improvements to digital audience engagement, such as website upgrades, short films or webinars
Community engagement or co-curation projects
Audience data research such as ‘Audience Finder’
Wellbeing initiatives for staff and volunteers.

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Job Opportunity

June 28, 2021mikenevell

Founded in 1967, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Ltd is a registered charity whose twin aims are education and heritage conservation. The Trust cares for 35 scheduled monuments and listed buildings within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site and operates 10 award winning museums. They collectively tell the story of the Ironbridge Gorge’s universal significance and its unique role in the development of the Industrial Revolution. The museums receive around 450,000 visits a year including 60,000 school visits.

The Trust is looking to recruit a creative, dynamic, and forward-looking Collections and Learning Director, who will join the Museum at a pivotal moment for the organisation as it reopens following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Collections and Learning Director post is being remodelled with an added emphasis on industrial heritage expertise. There are several exciting projects underway and the postholder will be required to contribute to them and the strategic collections and learning plan.

The Collections and Learning Director will be a key member of the Senior Management Team and there is real opportunity for the postholder to come in and contribute to the vision of Ironbridge in a post-2020 cultural landscape.

Click here for full details.

AIM Funding News: New Stories New Audiences

June 21, 2021mikenevell

Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, ‘New Stories New Audiences’ aims to inspire museums to stay relevant to their audiences and to increase their impact. It is open to all AIM members in the small museum category (up to 20,000 visitors) and is designed to fund projects that result in a wider range of people being involved in heritage at your organisation. AIM expect you to have identified a new story that you wish to tell and undertaken some initial research to identify who the new audience will be. AIM also expect you to work with a new partner, to work differently and to try something new.

AIM will fund projects that could include:

Developing new interpretation
Creating a small display or exhibition
Developing new educational resources
Creating art works
Undertaking new collecting
Developing a website or other digital resource
Organising an event
Creating new volunteering opportunities
Developing a new tour

Examples of partners could include a school, local history group, university, local charity, community, social, or volunteer groups or individuals such as artists. Examples of new audiences could include members of BAME communities, people with a disability, young people or local people from particular socio-economic groups.

Click here for more details.

Heritage Compass Business Support

June 16, 2021mikenevell

Heritage Compass is a Business Support Programme funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and delivered by Cause4 in partnership with the Arts Marketing Association and Creative United. This programme has been designed to grow resilience and invigorate the heritage sector across England. Begun in 2020, it is intended that over two years the project will work with 300 small or medium-sized heritage organisations from across the country.

Participating organisations will benefit from a range of training, mentoring, and peer learning, through which each organisation will develop a clear business plan, a developed income strategy, and the tools and knowledge to respond to their specific needs and challenges. The programme is free to participate in and as part of the programme, a third of all applicants will be offered access grants of up to £5,000. The grant is primarily aimed at organisations with a turnover of less than £250k and with fewer than five staff, so ideal for many industrial heritage attractions.

A number of industrial heritage sites have already benefitted from the first round of support, including Crossness Engines Trust (above). Applications for organisations wishing to take part in the second round of support events are now open, with a closing date of 30th June. Follow the link here to apply for this second round of business support: Heritage Compass | Cause4

Free Media Trust Online Training During Small Charities Week

June 14, 2021mikenevell

Media Trust is a well established charity devoted to supporting charities with media advice/training. For Small Charities Week they are providing some free online media related training opportunities that might be of interest to those charities running industrial heritage sites.

On 15 June Media Trust has a free on-the-spot session for digital and communications advice, ideas, and feedback from leading media and creative industry volunteers. If you would like tips on effectively communicating your stories, are looking to increase engagement on social media or there are aspects of your communications strategy that you would like input on, this event is an excellent way to get real-time advice, ideas, and feedback. Follow the link below for booking.

Small Charity Week Comms Coaching | Media Trust

And over the summer Media Trust and Google are holding a series of three, free, online workshops between June and July on ‘Digital Marketing Strategy’, ‘How to Get started with Analytics’, and ‘How To Set up and Grow your Charity Online’. Sign up here.

Heritage Digital Free Guidelines on Social Media & Volunteers

June 7, 2021mikenevell

The latest free downloadable guidelines from Heritage Digital have been released to celebrate the end of Volunteers Week. Heritage Digital are also running an online webinar on 175th June on recruiting, retaining, and managing digital volunteers.

The first digital guide is ‘Working with volunteers’ and offers advice to when it comes to the rights of volunteers and the material they create. This can be downloaded from here: Charity Digital – Resources – Digital guide: Working with volunteers: Copyright consideration The second digital guide is a template that can be used as a starting point to ensure that your social media remains on brand and consistent. This can be downloaded from here: Charity Digital – Resources – Digital Template: Social Media Guidelines

Heritage Digital is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund Digital Skills for Heritage funding stream, and aims to increase the amount of free digital skills training and support available to heritage organisations. Booking for the free webinar on the 15th June can be made here: Charity Digital – Heritage Digital Events

New Industrial Heritage Networks for East Midlands & East of England

June 4, 2021mikenevell

Do you help run or volunteer at an industrial site open to the public in the East Midlands or East of England? Then now is the time to get involved with two new Industrial Heritage Networks being setup by the IHSO project. The Industrial Heritage Networks (IHN) are part of the Industrial Heritage Support project run by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, funded by Historic England, and support by a range of partners including the Association for Industrial Archaeology and the Association of Independent Museums.

Since 2018, seven regional Industrial Heritage Networks have been established in England. These are voluntary groups, organised with the support of the IHSO project, which meet twice a year. This is an opportunity to discuss and share the experiences of running and presenting to the public some of the most important industrial sites in the country.

With the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 the network meetings went online, providing support to those running and volunteering at hundreds of sites, and gathering the experiences of dozens of staff and volunteers in adapting to the global pandemic. With many industrial heritage sites re-opening this month (June 2021) and more planning to re-open over the rest of the summer the IHSO project is looking to establish the next two regional IHNs. The new East Midlands and East of England networks will meet online initially, although as the pandemic conditions ease the intention is to mix online meetings and in-person meetings at industrial sites.

If you want to get involved with these two new networks, sharing knowledge and experience, and discussing the current challenges and opportunities in the industrial heritage sector, then contact the Industrial Heritage Support Officer, Dr Mike Nevell, at Ironbridge, on the following email: mike.nevell@ironbridge.org.uk

Supporting, Sharing, Strengthening: AIM’s Annual Conference & AGM, 16-18 June 2021

May 27, 2021mikenevell

What hard lessons are we learning in the face of the pandemic? Have our reflections resulted in changes for good? What skills or new ways of working have we developed – and might they help us prepare for an uncertain future? The Association of Independent Museums’ (AIM) virtual Conference faces these questions head on, helping delegates build on their organisational and personal strengths to meet the challenges of the future with confidence and creativity.

The annual conference will look at the importance of leadership and good governance during hard times, sharing the new ways of working we adopted and forecasting what next for the sector. From practical sessions to personal reflections, expert plenaries to virtual networking, the conference brings together delegates from across the UK for engaging sessions led by practitioners, professionals, experts, and policymakers. It will cover the latest insights and advice and encourage you to make new contacts, catch-up and share best practice, too. Conference programme details can be found here: AIM National Conference 2021 – AIM – Association of Independent Museums (aim-museums.co.uk). Booking here: Supporting, Sharing, Strengthening: AIM Conference 2021

AIM’s 2021 Annual General Meeting will also take place online at 13.30 on the first day of the the AIM Annual Conference, Wednesday 16th June.

For any queries do contact us on info@aim-museums.co.uk

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Author: mikenevell