Connected Communities Peer Support – AIM

Connected Communities, part of the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund supported by DCMS. 

Consultant to deliver peer support programme 

Introduction 

Museums have unique abilities to bring people together around collections, treasured local sites, and interesting ideas. AIM’s new programme seeks to harness these opportunities to increase wellbeing in twenty-seven specified deprived areas in England and give more people the chance to get involved in their local museum and build meaningful relationships.  

Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Know Your Neighbourhood Fund through Arts Council England (ACE), AIM’s Connected Communities scheme offers grants of £15,000 – £100,000 to Accredited museums delivering projects in the eligible areas that will improve community connections through high-quality volunteering opportunities and/or reducing loneliness and increasing social bonds. Alongside the grants museums will participate in a capacity-building programme that will support and upskill staff and volunteers, offer expert guidance through mentorship, help build partnerships with local organisations, and ensure the grant-funded projects have a legacy both organisationally and in the eligible areas.  

This programme is part of Know Your Neighbourhood. Other elements delivered via the Arts Council are through Creative Lives UK and Libraries Connected. The other strands of the project encompass Heritage Action Zones, UK Community Foundation projects, and National Lottery Community Fund projects.   

Connected Communities is supported by the What Works Centre for Wellbeing and Heritage Volunteering Group.   

More information about the programme, including guidance for applicants, can be found here.  

Peer Support Programme 

An important element of taking part in this programme, alongside the grant element, is a capacity building programme. This is mandatory and all organisation or consortia that have received a grant will need to commit the time from staff or volunteers to take part. As well as supporting individuals and organisations in delivering their projects, the capacity building programme will help participants build partnerships and develop ways to tackle challenges in their communities in the longer term and will build a peer support community which will help to share the benefits of the programme around the sector into the future.   

The capacity building programme includes: 

1. Mentorship: grant recipients have been allocated a mentor to provide advice and support during the delivery of the project, including where appropriate dedicated fundraising support towards the end of the project to help seek sources of funding to keep activity going  
2. Development of resources: grant recipients will be asked to provide a case study and take part in activities to provide the wider sector with support and examples of projects building community connections  
3. Peer support programme: for project leads within the organisation (staff or volunteers) to feel supported and build networks of skilled people for these kinds of projects within the sector, including action learning sets, facilitated cohort meetings, support to attend relevant training and development, and a mini-conference  
4. Legacy programme: representing the programme at a conference for the wider sector to share projects and other relevant sessions; participating in a community of practice; and support in developing both the local legacy and a national impact in the museums sector and with wider civil society 

Consultant/s to deliver the Peer Support Programme 

AIM wishes to recruit a consultant or consultants to deliver the peer support programme outlined in point 3 above. We anticipate that the programme will include:  

• Regular cohort meetings 
• Action learning sets 
• Relevant workshops 
• An in-person event for all participants

This is an exciting opportunity to play a role in the implementation of a central Government fund which is exploring how museums and other community organisations can tackle social issues through projects and build systems and relationships in local areas to make the work sustainable.  

The consultant/s delivering the peer support programme will form a key part of the AIM Connected Communities team, alongside AIM staff and the freelance Project Support Officer. They will also work alongside the Legacy Manager (to be appointed early in 2024) and project mentors. This is a new strand to our grants, building on the strategic investment by the National Lottery Heritage Fund into AIM’s New Stories, New Audiences programme, testing it for the first time with significant projects up to £100,000 which AIM expects will involve working with bigger organisations and consortia.  

The programme is also already supported by the Heritage Volunteering Group https://heritagevolunteeringgroup.org.uk/ and the What Works Centre for Wellbeing https://whatworkswellbeing.org/   

A key element of the programme will be network building and giving the participants confidence and skills to be ambassadors for the role of museums in supporting wellbeing. We envisage that working alongside the Legacy Manager the successful consultant(s) might help develop the group into the nucleus of an ongoing community of practice for this kind of work.  

We anticipate that the programme will run from March 2024 to February 2025.  

Connected Communities grants have already been awarded to five organisations in round one and we anticipate that up to another 10 grants may be awarded in round two in February, giving a cohort of up to 15 people. 

Person specification 

We are looking for experienced consultants who can show substantial and demonstrable expertise in the following areas:  

• Experience in developing and delivering leadership support programmes 
• Experience of delivering leadership development workshops and Action Learning Sets 
• Experience in supporting and mentoring individuals from a wide range of organisations often in complex and challenging situations 
• Knowledge and expertise in the theory and practice of organisational development, strategy and change 
• An understanding of the role that museums can play in supporting wellbeing, building community connections through high-quality volunteering opportunities and/or reducing loneliness and increasing social bonds. 
• Are approachable, organised, capable of initiating and shaping workstreams, and communicate clearly and regularly with other team members 

 Payment

There is a fee of £8,500 excluding VAT. This is to include travel and expenses but much of the work is expected to be conducted remotely. A payment schedule will be agreed on appointment.  

Contract management 

The role is freelance and the contractor will need to be able to work from home and provide their own IT and office equipment.  

AIM has a standard self-employed contractor agreement.   

The contractor will report to the AIM Head of Programmes.  

How to apply

Please supply:  

• An outline methodology for how you would deliver the programme (1 side A4) 
• What skills and experience you would bring to the role, specifically addressing the criteria listed above (1 side A4) 
• Please provide 2 referees 
• A detailed budget showing the breakdown of costs for delivering each element of the programme. 

Proposals should be sent to AIM Head of Programmes, Margaret Harrison [email protected] by 5pm Monday 12 February.