Category: AIM

The Long Shop Museum Recieves £14,000 Aim Grant for Revamped Gallery

The Long Shop Museum Recieves £14,000 Aim Grant for Revamped Gallery

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The Association of Independent Museums (AIM) have announced the winners of the inaugural Museum Fundamentals grants. Funded by the Pilgrim Trust and The Julia Rausing Trust and launched in December 2024, the AIM Museum Fundamentals grant is designed to respond to the varied needs of AIM members.

Amongst the initial round of 12 grants is a succesful application from The Long Shop Muaseum in Suffolk to redesign and redisplay the ‘Made in Leiston’ gallery. The design and content of the new exhibition is based on audience research conducted over the last two seasons. The new displays will focus on unlocking the social history of the town and the people who lived and worked there over a 250-year span, and on technological change. The Long Shop Museum was founded in 1984. It is housed in a cluster of historic buildings in the Suffolk market town of Leiston. The buildings are survivors of the original 19th century engineering works site of Richard Garrett and Sons who specialised in famring machinery. Further details here:

https://www.longshopmuseum.co.uk/

The AIM Museum Fundamentals grant is funded by the Pilgrim Trust and The Julia Rausing Trust, and launched in December 2024. It combines the valued collections care and conservation funding supported by the Pilgrim Trust with new funding from The Julia Rausing Trust. AIM members can apply for up to £20,000 for funding to undertake a collections-based project. If you’re interested in applying to Museum Fundamentals, expressions of interest for the next round are welcome until Friday 8 August. Further details here: https://aim-museums.co.uk/news/first-aim-museum-fundamentals-awards-made/

Long Shop, Leiston, Suffolk. Image copyright The Long Shop Museum.

Peak District Mining Museum, Museum of Rail Travel & Port Sunlight Receive AIM Funding

Peak District Mining Museum, Museum of Rail Travel & Port Sunlight Receive AIM Funding

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AIM (the Association of Independent Museums) has announced (December 2024) the latest recipients of their collections care and conservation grants, funded by the Pilgrim Trust. 20 organisations were offered grant funding totalling £63,750.50.

The Peak District Mining Museum has been offered funding for a conservator-led collections care audit to provide a report on the display and store environment and offer recommendations on how to improve collections care.

The Museum of Rail Travel/ Vintage Carriages Trust has been awarded £3,000.00 for conserving and making publicly accessible the Bradshaw map, whilst the Port Sunlight Village Trust has been awarded a grant of £7,325 for the Conservation of the Gladstone Theatre Plaque.

In 2025 AIM will be offering a new grant called ‘Museum Fundamentals’, combining the familiar conservator support offered by the Pilgrim Trust funded grants, with new funding to support back of house activity and mentoring for larger projects. To hear about the forthcoming AIM Museum Fundamentals grant application process, and news on all other AIM activity, sign up for their newsletter here:  weekly eNews.

AIM Launch Research to Explore How Land is Used by Museum and Heritage Organisations

AIM Launch Research to Explore How Land is Used by Museum and Heritage Organisations

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A new piece of research has been launched by the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) to better understand how museums and heritage venues with outdoor space of any size are approaching land management in order to diversify their income streams, broaden their audiences, and contribute to sustainability goals. 

The research will explore how museums and heritage organisations (including industrial heritage sites) with outdoor space of any size, from rooftop terraces to those with thousands of acres, are using these spaces. The research will also consider the appetite for further support and funding for developing such outdoor spaces. The intended outcome is to compile some broad data about land ownership in the sector along with a set of robust case studies that can exemplify how organisations of varied size and resource are approaching land management.

A core element is an online survey, which is open to those in the museums and heritage sector with experience managing land or owning land. The survey is being carried out by marketing research company M·E·L Research for the Association of Independent Museums (AIM), National Museum Directors’ Council, Arts Council England, and the Welsh Government.

The online survey is open until Mid-December, and can be completed here.

Part of the Blists Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. Image copyright: Dr Michael Nevell.