New Stories New Audiences Project Mentors – AIM

Introduction

The Association of Independent Museums is a thriving UK museum membership organisation with over 1000 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.

Project Mentors

AIM wishes to recruit a pool of freelance mentors to support successful New Stories, New Audiences projects. 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.

The scheme is aimed at smaller AIM members who often require extra support to make change. The aspiration is for projects to act as a stepping-stone to wider organisational change.

Project Mentors will provide up to 3 days of support for successful participants in carrying out effective community engagement and working with new audiences. They will need to be able to provide support to museums in key aims of the project:

• Working with a new partner

Participants may need support in co-creation or co-curation. This approach may be new to them and they may need help building a new relationship with individuals or community group or another organisation. We want to support projects that recognise that co-creation should be a collaborative process about sharing power

• Identifying a new audience

We would like to support organisations that recognise their responsibility to carry out their purpose for the benefit of all, striving to make a positive impact and represent all communities. Inequalities exist across society and can be perpetuated by organisations (often unconsciously or through a lack of awareness) when they work in ways that disadvantage or discriminate against people.

• Telling a new story

Museums specifically have a unique opportunity to use and develop their collections to highlight discrimination, identify and address missing perspectives and encourage debate and discussion.

Participants will need to find what may spark non-visitors’ interest from among their assets, i.e. collections, sites, stories of which they are the custodians. They will be encouraged to consult people from those groups to uncover which hidden aspects of their collection, history or site may encourage them to visit and explore further.

We are looking for people who can demonstrate the following:

• A good knowledge and understanding of current issues around understanding audiences and in particular developing audiences that are currently under-represented.
• Experience of providing mentoring and support to projects and organisations
• Is approachable, flexible, organised, and communicates clearly and regularly with other team members.

Plus one or more of the following:

• Experience of community engagement, partnership working and co-creation projects
• Experience working with organisations to tell missing perspectives and untold stories.
• 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.

Information session 

Do you have questions about the role? Do you want to find out more before making an application?

Join Margaret Harrison, AIM Programmes Manager, and Tonia Collet, New Stories New Audiences Project Coordinator, for an information session at 11am on Tuesday 24 August. Margaret and Tonia will give an overview of the grant scheme and the Project Mentor role as well as giving you the chance to ask your questions and meet others interested in joining our pool of mentors.

Click here to register for this information session>>

Please note, attendance at this session is not a formal part of the recruitment process and will not form part of the panel’s final decision in who to appoint to the pool of mentors. This is an information session intended to help potential applicants find out more and ask any questions.

Contract Management

There is a fee of £600 per day including VAT and travel. A payment schedule will be agreed on appointment.

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 contractors will report to the AIM Programmes Manager.  

How to apply for this role

Please tell us, in not more than 2 pages, about:

• What skills and experience you would bring to the role, specifically addressing the criteria listed above
• Two examples of relevant work you have carried out
• Please provide 2 referees

Proposals should be sent to AIM Programmes Manager, Margaret Harrison Margaret@aim-museums.co.uk 

Closing date: 5pm Monday 13 September.

Click here to find out more about New Stories New Audiences for grant applicants>>