New Stories New Audiences Grant Panel members – AIM

Introduction

The Association of Independent Museums is a thriving UK museum membership organisation with over 1200 museum members. We represent a wide range of the UK’s museum and heritage organisations, from some of the largest attractions in the country to small, grassroots heritage organisations across a huge range of subject areas and localities. AIM helps heritage organisations prosper. We believe that museums must grow to fulfil their purpose and demonstrate the relevance of heritage to everyone.

Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, AIM’s New Stories New Audiences scheme offers grants of up £15,000 to AIM’s smaller members to deliver projects that tell a new story that will attract a new audience for their organisation. We’ll support museums to work with new partners and try out something new.

We know that all museums need to increase and widen their audiences to enhance their sustainability and to widen participation to groups that they do not currently attract. We want New Stories New Audiences to inspire museums to stay relevant to their audiences and to increase their impact.

Grant panel membership

The panel meets to assess and decide on annual grant awards for the New Stories, New Audiences grant programme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and managed by AIM. The panel membership is:

• 4 AIM Board members (1 to serve as panel Chair)
• 3 members to be identified through an open recruitment process to ensure lived experience and expertise, relevant to project applications, is present on the board.
• NLHF will be invited to send a representative as an observer at panel meetings.

NB. in line with NLHF guidance panel members should not be potential grant applicants

Panel to be quorate with 4 members present.

Role of the grant panel

There will be one grant round per year. The panel meets after the grant deadline of 31 October, probably at the end of November. AIM staff carry out initial eligibility checks on applications. Panel members will be expected to read and review all applications and score these against the assessment criteria. At the panel meeting applications will be discussed, all scores will be collated and grant awards made.

AIM will discuss with grant panel members their interest in further updates on projects in progress.

Panel meetings are currently taking place by Zoom. It is possible that face to face meetings may resume in future.

Grant panel recruitment

AIM wishes to recruit three external panel members. This is an exciting opportunity to play a role in the implementation of a new fund which will invest in and support museums to widen and diversify their audiences.

We are looking for people who can demonstrate the following:

• An understanding of the museums and heritage sector, in particular the type of organisations that make up AIM’s small museum category or experience supporting small organisations in a related sector.
• A good knowledge and understanding of current issues around understanding audiences and in particular developing audiences that are currently under-represented.
• Have prior experience of being on a grant panel or grant giving.
• Bring lived experience of discrimination, being in a minority, under represented or disadvantaged. 

Contract Management

We anticipate that panel membership will involve 1.5 days work per round to read applications and attend the panel meeting. We will pay an honorarium of £150 to externally appointed panel members which they can direct to their own organisation if appropriate. 

How to apply for this role

Please provide a personal statement on one page that outlines:

• Why you are interested in this role
• What impact this grant scheme will have on independent museums
• What skills and experience you would bring to the role, specifically addressing the criteria listed above.

Proposals should be sent to AIM Programmes Manager, Margaret Harrison [email protected] by 5pm Monday 1 November. We anticipate that the panel meeting will be w/c 29 November and panel members will be expected to attend a short briefing session before the meeting in November.