MDNW coronavirus update

Here’s our round up of news about COVID-19 relevant to the sector from this week. These are up to date at the time of posting but please check the original source for any updates.

To look back at any of our previous blog posts and their links, find them on our website using the search term ‘coronavirus’.

Museum reopening guidance

NMDC Good Practice Guidelines (17th September)

Updates are made regularly (and listed at the bottom of the website) as government guidance changes so keep checking the website to make sure you are working to the most recent version. The latest update includes amendments to reflect the new 6-person limit on social gatherings, the mandatory recording of data for NHS Test & Trace and a link to the Health & Safety Executive’s guidance on ventilation and air-conditioning during the coronavirus outbreak.

Read our blog post here for the full list of guidance and resources around reopening and view recordings (subtitles are available) on our YouTube channel of our webinars on reopening. Please note that the advice given within these videos was based on the most up to date Government guidance at the time of recording and may have changed since.

Latest government information

Latest information and advice (18th September)

Coronavirus (COVID-19): What has changed (9th September)

The government has announced new measures to suppress the virus and keep the number of infections down, including not meeting with people from other households socially in groups of more than 6. This will apply indoors and outdoors, including in private homes. COVID-19 secure venues (including museums) can still host larger numbers in total but groups of up to 6 must not mix or form larger groups. Businesses will have a clear duty to support NHS Test and Trace. From 18th September, it will be mandatory for certain businesses to have a system to collect NHS Test and Trace data, and keep this for 21 days.

Kickstart scheme (2nd September)

Government scheme to provide apprenticeships is now open to applications. The placements will be 6 months long, 25 hours per week and for 16-24 year-olds claiming universal credit. Applications must be for a minimum of 30 job placements, ruling out most museums’ ability to apply to the scheme, but if an organisation is unable to offer this many placements it can partner with other organisations as a consortium to reach the minimum number.

Curious Minds, the Bridge organisation for the North West, is interested in gauging the interest and needs of the North West’s cultural sector in relation to Kickstart. They are carrying out a survey is to collect an idea of organisations who would be interested in joining a Kickstart consortium, to get a picture of its viability in the North West. 

Arts Council England

National Lottery Project Grants

National Lottery Project Grants are open for applications. Until April 2021, the fund will focus on the needs of smaller independent organisations and individual practitioners. Supplementary guidance has been published that outlines the changes. The fund will also focus more on activity that gives organisations the time to think, plan and test new ideas. For the first time with this fund, ACE will be able to invest in activity where the route to public engagement may take longer, and may take place beyond the boundaries of the activity you apply for. The usual requirement to provide 10% match funding has been removed.

Museum Development North West

Funding sources (7th September)

We have updated our list of current funding sources available for the sector. It includes both general museum funding and Covid-19 specific funds.

ACE National Lottery Project Grants bid-writing support (10th September)

We have extended our bid-writing support offer to museums to work with Laura Drane on applications to ACE’s National Lottery Project Grants on a first come first served basis.

Association of Independent Museums

AIM have a page on their website dedicated to coronavirus resources, including news and advocacy and sources of UK government support. Elsewhere on the website are reopening guidance resources, details of the AIM Hallmarks at Home training, ALVA attractions recovery tracker and online advice surgeries.

Reopening case study videos 
AIM spoke to several members about their reopening experiences and you can hear what they’ve learnt and the advice they’d share with other members in these short videos. It seems that as well as adding significant additional safety measures for staff, volunteers and visitors, the ability to quickly adapt, identify shifting audiences and respond to their needs is key to beginning to recover and plan for the future. 

Watch the case study videos here.

Art Fund – Respond and Reimagine Grants

The final round of applications is now open for grants to help museums, galleries and cultural organisations respond to immediate challenges connected to the Covid-19 crisis, and offer support to adapt and reimagine ways of working for the future. Grants from £10,000-£50,000, Art Fund will consider offering 100% funding. Deadline 12th October.

DCMS – Museums & galleries sector coronavirus bulletin (15th September)

coronavirus-bulletin-20200915Download



Migration Network North West event

The Migration Network is a knowledge-sharing network bringing together organisations from across the UK heritage sector and beyond.

It is hosting an online event that will be a mixture of case studies, discussion groups and networking opportunities.

The four case studies will be:

  • The National Trust’s Colonial Countrysides project at Speke Hall
  • The Museum of Liverpool’s community outreach of The Secret Life of Pembroke Place
  • The Peoples’ History Museum in Manchester’s migration season programming
  • The Migration Museum’s digital public engagement for Heart of the Nation

Afternoon facilitated discussion groups will cover:

  • working with asylum seekers and refugees
  • anti-racism commitments in your workplace
  • how to engage with schools on these themes
  • the process of co-developing a long term collection display on migration

The event will take place online on Thursday October 1 between 10:30 AM – 4:00 PM. The event is for all but particularly those living and working in the North West. To book a place, please click here.

Dance within Heritage online discussion – 22 Oct

Imagination Museum Consortium are hosting an online discussion event for heritage and dance practitioners later in the year, on Thursday October 22nd from 10-12 noon.

This will be a free event, delivered online via Zoom. It will be facilitated by Emma McFarland (currently head of the National Gallery’s Innovation Programme as well as an independent Innovation Producer) and will include presentations from 4 speakers, with more information on these speakers to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

To view more information about the event, click here.

To reserve a place, click here.

Job Opportunity: The Harris

Job Opportunity: The Harris
Job title: Programmes and Collections Manager
Salary: £42,683 – £43,662 (pay award pending)
Location: The Harris (Preston)
Hours: 37 hours per week
Closing date: Friday 9 October 2020 (12 Noon)

Preston City Council’s Cultural Service has an opportunity for a senior manager to join the leadership team at the Harris Museum, Art Gallery and Library.

To view full details and to apply, click here.

Supporting Museums join the Kickstart Scheme

The Museums Association (MA) and the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) are working together to help museums take part in the UK-wide Kickstart Scheme.

Introduced in response to the Covid situation, the Scheme provides six-month funded placements for young people on Universal Credit or at risk of unemployment, with the government providing funding for 25 hours per week at the minimum wage.

The complication is that any organisation seeking to join the Scheme must provide a minimum of 30 placements in order to participate.

The MA and AIM will host a virtual networking session on 30 September to enable museums to explore their options and to broker partnerships.

Email info@aim-museums.co.uk by 24 September to register your interest.

Recognising that many museums may not be able to offer this number of placements on their own, the MA and AIM have come together to help museums that are interested in participating to find a partner or form a group of museums in order to access the scheme.

The Kickstart networking session will take place on 30 September from 10.30am to 12.00pm.

Job Opportunity: Association of Independent Museums

Job Opportunity: Association of Independent Museums
Job title: Freelance Project Administrator
Salary: £5,000 (total fee for contract period)
Location: Home-based or AIM office at the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port
Hours: One full day per week or flexible working times
Contract: October 2020 – March 2021
Closing date: 5pm on Monday 21 September

The Association of Independent Museums are recruiting an Administrator for the Hallmarks at Home programme.

To view further information and to apply, please click here.

Association for Cultural Enterprises – Upcoming Webinars

The Association for Cultural Enterprises are hosting the following online workshops:

Culture Sprint Online Workshops – Free, members only | Starts 22 Sep 2020

This series of events are designed to give current and future arts leaders a tool for solving critical business challenges. Prepared in collaboration with The Revels Office.

To find out more and to book, please click here.

Re-Opening Retail – Free, members only | 25 Sep, 11am

A panel of cultural retailers discuss how our shops have fared since re-opening, looking at issues such as social distancing, stock management and how footfall, ATV and conversion rates have been affected.

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Creating Family Friendly Interactions Workshop

Creating family friendly interactions in the new normal 

Wednesday 14 October, 10.30am-12.30pm and Thursday 15 October, 10.30am-12.30pm

Kids in Museums and other Museum Development Teams to develop a workshop about interacting with family audiences, that is specifically aimed towards those working in front facing roles.

About this training

As families start to return to museums after lockdown, research shows that this audience want to feel safe, welcome and assured that staff are patient. 

In this virtual training day for front facing museum staff and volunteers, we will:

  • learn why family visitors are an important part of your visitor profile 
  • gain an understanding of the key concerns families have about visiting museums post-lockdown
  • together come up with ways to tackle common scenarios involving family visitors and COVID-19 restrictions
  • explore how you can use playful and safe ways to interact with families in a way that is relevant to your site.

This virtual training session will be delivered over two half day sessions (two hours with a short break). The sessions will be delivered with consultant Sarah Shaw, former National Family Interpretation Manager for English Heritage. In this role she implemented a family friendly training and development programme for all front facing staff and volunteers across the organisation.

Take a look at the schedule attached.

Who should attend?

These training webinars are suitable for those working in front facing roles and interacting with families on a regular basis in your museum. We can only take bookings from staff or volunteers from museums in the North West, North East and Yorkshire. 

Run in partnership with Museum Development North West, Museum Development North East and Museum Development Yorkshire. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Booking information

Free but booking is essential. Places are limited to one per organisation on a first-come, first-served basis.

Booking
To book a ticket, please click here.

Engage! Producing outstanding digital resources

The National Archives are hosting an online event as part of the Digital Archives Learning Exchange (DALE) series.

The event will include sessions on accessibility, demonstrating impact, developing online content for children, and running a remote volunteering project. 

Registration for the event is free. It will be held on Tuesday 29 September between 2pm – 3:30pm. For further information and to register, click here.