The third and final round of the AIM Biffa Award History Makers Programme is now open for applications from AIM member museums in England.
Grants of up to £90,000 are available to support museums by creating new exhibitions featuring the lives and achievements of extraordinary, historical figures who have made a significant impact on the industrial, creative industries and arts, scientific, commercial or social history of the UK, helping to shape the world we live in today.
We want the funded exhibitions to be inspiring and exciting – especially for young people – and we are very keen to hear about exhibitions that would feature:
Grants cover both capital and revenue expenditure and you will receive full support from AIM in promoting your project. The bulk of the grant (90%) is for capital (i.e. the exhibition itself and work required to produce it). 10% can be spent on other costs such as education resources and organisational project costs.
A brand-new website that will be promoted to the public, parents, museum educators and schools will launch in spring 2019 and will feature all our History Makers projects from all three rounds.
The first application stage is to submit a brief Expression of Interest form of no more than 200 words after checking your eligibility.
Please visit our AIM Biffa Award History Makers webpage for full information.
AIM Biffa Award History Makers
To inspire you, take a look at a video and case study from London Transport Museum, who were grant recipients in the first round of History Makers.
Size of grant awarded: £72,530
About the project: James Henry Greathead ‘the father of the tube’ revolutionised London and his achievements, unseen and taken for granted, are crucial to major cities around the world. Digging Deeper explores the engineering innovations which made travelling deep under London possible and, as Crossrail begins operation, highlight Greathead’s continuing influence.
What has the AIM Biffa Award funding has been used for?
London Transport Museum has transformed an underperforming gallery into a space which dramatically brings the story of tunnelling to life with four new videos and a new tunnel environment.
Featuring a giant audio-visual tunnel projection and a life-size recreation of the tunnelling shield that dug the world’s first electric Tube railway in 1890, visitors will be able to lose themselves in the history of remarkable engineering feats, the hazardous working conditions of the 19th century and early engineering pioneers. Younger visitors can try their hand at building their own tunnel using a set of foam tunnel rings.
How has the funding and project positively impacted so far – and what do you think the positive impacts in the future will be?
The transport industry is facing a skills crisis. An additional 1.8m engineers and technically qualified people are needed by 2025. Currently there is a 20,000-a-year shortfall.
At the Museum we see the excitement and enthusiasm of hundreds of children every day as they explore our collection. In most cases that enthusiasm is lost and long forgotten when career defining GCSE choices are being made.
Digging Deeper will nurture that enthusiasm and challenge preconceptions about engineering by bringing the real-world applications of STEM to life for thousands of children and their parents, carers and teachers each year.
How has the AIM Biffa Award funding has added value to what your organisation does?
AIM Biffa Award has enabled us to bring diverse voices into our interpretation. STEM careers are often perceived by girls as being ‘not for them’. Digging Deeper, by giving visitors the opportunity to hear from the women who worked on Crossrail will challenge preconceptions and make it clear that careers in transport are open to all.
“The AIM Biffa Award funding has enabled us to highlight the continuing contributions of James Greathead and his ‘shield’ to the world of tube tunnelling from the Tower Subway to the Elizabeth line in a new way.” Simon Murphy, Curator
Biffa Award
Since 1997, Biffa Award has awarded grants totalling more than £165 million to thousands of worthwhile community and environmental projects across the UK. The programme administers money donated by Biffa Group Ltd through the Landfill Communities Fund.
Landfill Communities Fund
The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) is an innovative tax credit scheme enabling operators (LOs) to contribute money to organisations enrolled with ENTRUST as Environmental Bodies (EBs). EBs use this funding for a wide range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of landfill sites. LOs are able to claim a credit (currently 5.3%) against their landfill tax liability for 90% of the contributions they make.
Since its inception in 1996, over £1.6 billion has been spent on more than 56,000 projects across the UK. For further information please visit https://www.entrust.org.uk/or see HMRC’s general guide to landfill tax.