Is your museum or heritage organisation committed to fostering inclusion and wellbeing and wanting to create safer and more inclusive and welcoming spaces for all?
AIM is launching a Safe Access Museum Cohort, as part of the Safe Access Project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Innovation Fund, and we are looking for a small group of dedicated organisations to join the 18-month culture change and capacity-building programme.
About the Safe Access project
Safe Access is an inclusion-focused project funded by the Heritage Innovation Fund, created by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). Having successfully completed the ‘Explore’ and ‘Test’ phases, we are now embarking on the third and final ‘Grow’ phase, a two-year £250k programme that focuses on embedding wellbeing and a Trauma Informed Approach within heritage settings, so that people from marginalised backgrounds can engage safely with sensitive collections and stories.
The key aims of Safe Access are to:
- Develop a Wellbeing Framework: This resource, based on the Phase 2 draft framework built around the needs of freelancers and developed through the learnings and experiences of the cohort organisations, will support and enable heritage organisations to centre wellbeing, understanding, and compassion for lived experiences to improve how freelancers, staff, visitors and volunteers from marginalised communities experience museums and heritage, particularly sensitive collections and histories.
- Build a community: We aim to create the nucleus of a network of museums and heritage organisations dedicated to embedding wellbeing-focused and trauma-informed approaches in all aspects of their work.
- Develop recommendations for the sector and funders: the project, cohort, and steering group will make sector-level suggestions for protecting workforce and other people from marginalised communities within museums and heritage.
About the peer learning and support programme
We are looking for a cohort of museums and heritage organisations interested in experimenting with ways to improve wellbeing and developing safer approaches to working with marginalised communities and under-represented perspectives.
To experiment with new initiatives and different ways of working, cohort organisations will have access to a small implementation fund to support their work.
Key elements of the programme will include:
- Collaboratively shaping a Wellbeing Framework: Participating organisations will test and evaluate the Safe Access Wellbeing Framework by using the draft principles and guidance within their work and then sharing their successes, challenges, and insights. There will be small funds distributed to cohort organisations to resource this work.
- Peer Learning & Support: Each organisation will nominate one or two Project Leads who will participate in regular online facilitated peer learning and sharing meetings, action learning sets and an in-person two-day residential event.
- Professional Development: Staff and volunteers from the cohort organisations will have the opportunity to attend workshops and masterclasses delivered by relevant and leading experts to support learning around best practice and the subsequent development of their own tools and interventions.
- Resource Development: As well as contributing to the development of the Wellbeing Framework, participating organisations will provide case studies and support the creation of additional resources to help the wider sector adopt inclusion-focused and trauma-informed practices.
We expect to have up to six museums and heritage organisations in the first cohort, with a further six potentially coming on board in early 2026 to test and help refine the approach.
What the peer learning and support programme will offer
By participating in the programme, Cohort organisations will have access to the following benefits:
- Community: Connection with like-minded museums and heritage organisations who are all committed to embedding wellbeing-focused and trauma-informed approaches.
- Implementation funds: Financial support to be able to experiment with new initiatives and to improve inclusion-focussed working practices.
- Peer learning & support: Engagement in peer learning groups for support, professional development, and reflective engagement.
- Enhanced wellbeing: Involvement in the creation of an inclusive organisational culture and environment so that everyone (including workforce, volunteers, partners, local communities, and visitors alike) feels safe and supported.
- Professional growth: Professional development opportunities and being a part of a strong network of supporters who will be championing and advocating for Safe Access approaches across the sector.
- Opportunity to make a difference: Contribution to a movement that prioritises wellbeing and inclusivity in heritage settings, ensuring that sensitive collections and stories are handled with care and respect.
Participation commitment
We fully appreciate that culture change is more than challenging and requires dedication, patience and a willingness to embrace new approaches. By participating in the Safe Access Cohort Programme, the Cohort organisations will need a genuine commitment to making these important changes to foster inclusion and wellbeing within their settings.
We would therefore expect the Cohort organisations to make the following commitments to the programme:
- Demonstrable dedication to inclusion & wellbeing:
- Demonstrate a holistic commitment to embedding wellbeing-focused and trauma-informed approaches in all aspects of their organisation’s work.
- Continually strive to create safe spaces for marginalised communities and individuals by centring understanding and compassion for lived experiences within their work.
- Active participation:
- Ensure that Project Leads are available and committed to participating in the Peer Learning & Support Programme.
- Engage fully in all programme activities, including the facilitated online peer sessions and attending the in-person residential event.
- Attend workshops and masterclasses delivered by relevant experts to learn best practices and develop tools for inclusion-focused work.
- Encourage staff and volunteers to participate in professional development sessions to build their skills and knowledge.
- Collaboration & sharing:
- Work collaboratively with other cohort organisations to share successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
- Actively support and learn from other cohort organisations, fostering a collaborative and supportive community.
- Contribute to the development and refinement of the Safe Access Wellbeing Framework by providing feedback and insights from their organisation’s activities and experiences.
- Resource development & sharing:
- Support the creation of resources by contributing to externally-commissioned evaluations, providing case studies, and participating in activities that showcase inclusion-focused culture change.
- Help disseminate these resources to the wider sector to promote Safe Access approaches.
- Openness to change:
- Be open to experimenting with new ways of working and implementing changes that may be outside of their organisation’s current practices.
- Recognise that culture change is a gradual process and requires ongoing effort and reflection.
- Reflective practice:
- Engage reflectively in the programme, considering how their organisation can continuously improve its approaches to inclusion and wellbeing.
- Be willing to adapt and refine their practices based on feedback and new insights gained through the programme.
- Champion Safe Access:
- Advocate for the principles of Safe Access within their own organisation and the wider heritage sector.
- Share their experiences and expertise to help others in the sector implement Safe Access approaches.
- Use their experiences and learnings from the programme to promote not just the Safe Access resources but broader inclusion and wellbeing-focused practices, beyond the duration of the programme.
Timeline
This schedule, although not yet fully confirmed, provides an estimated plan of when key activities within the Programme will take place:
| February & March 2025 | Initial and informal discussions with potential Cohort organisations |
| April 2025 | Onboarding of confirmed Cohort organisations |
| April / May 2025 | First online Peer Learning & Support Meeting with the Cohort Facilitator |
| April / May 2025 – November 2026 | Regular check-ins/mentoring with the Cohort Facilitator Regular Peer Learning & Support Meetings Regular Professional Development Sessions (The content for these elements of the programme will be user- and needs- led so will be developed via feedback from the participating organisations) |
| April – June / July 2025 | Planning and proposals submitted for implementation grants from each Cohort organisation |
| June / July 2025 – November 2026 | Implementation plans underway and wellbeing/inclusion-focussed interventions and activities delivered |
| February 2026 | Residential event |
| March – October 2026 | Collaborative development of resources |
| March – November 2026 | Production of reflective blogs and case studies by each Cohort organisation |
| Specific touchpoints to be confirmed | Reflection and evaluation activities to support the development of the Wellbeing Framework |
| Ad-hoc | Potential attendance at advocacy events to share learning and outputs from the project (For example, the AIM Conference. All travel costs for this will be covered by the project and not at the expense of the Cohort organisations) |
How to get involved
If your organisation is interested in participating, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Jenna Marrion at [email protected] by 5pm Friday 11 April 2025 for a conversation.
In order to join the cohort we will wish to understand:
- Your existing commitment to and practice on inclusion and safety for marginalised communities
- Your collections and histories
- Your willingness to be part of the cohort and Safe Access project, including making time and space to engage in the peer support and learning programme.
We look forward to hearing from you and discussing how we can collaboratively create a more inclusive and informed heritage sector.
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