Should we be funded the six micro grants will be in the region of £10k each, partners will be expected to commit staff time in kind contributions to the project and will be actively involved in the development of an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF).

Context

As health inequalities continue to widen across the UK, museums have a crucial role to play as community assets that can profoundly impact the social determinants of health . For this role to be effective, museum and heritage settings need to be able to build meaningful, long-term relationships with health, social care and community partners, codesigning work with potential beneficiaries.

This itself requires strategic commitment from museum leaders to build on the decades of leadership shown by education and outreach teams around the country. We want to embed this work by empowering those who lead it, providing them with additional skills, stronger relationships and structural support.

Ongoing consultation with members of both GEM and CHWA makes clear the need for training, peer support, and help to form lasting partnerships. We want to deliver this training and support alongside micro grants to help catalyse new local partnerships and a strategic organisational commitment to health and wellbeing.

Each organisation will need to commit a small team to a minimum of 15 days towards the project per year. The team will need to include a senior executive or Board member; the learning or outreach officer or equivalent; and two volunteers or programme participants.

Based on GEM and CHWA’s understanding of sector need, at this stage we imagine the training will cover some or all of the following components, but we will develop these further with museum partners.

• Partnerships with health and care systems
• Evaluation and research
• Affective support for practitioners leading the work with communities
• Understanding the role of museums and heritage organisations in addressing health inequalities
• An intersectional approach to climate justice and health

The training will be led by people already working successfully in these areas so that teams can workshop their own ideas during the sessions.

The project will take place over a two-year period with organisations commitment lasting between a year and 18 months 2023-24.

How we will choose the partners

We will aim to ensure a wide geographic scope, and will be prioritising organisations working in areas of or with communities facing multiple deprivation , or in Levelling up for Culture areas .

Partners will work with GEM & CHWA to develop a funding proposal to the National Lottery Heritage Fund which follows positive dialogue with NLHF regarding the project.

How to send your expression of interest
To express an interest in being involved in the project please fill out the form and return to us by 30 November 2022. You are welcome to submit this information as text on the form below, or as audio or video. Please send your responses to [email protected].

We will get back to you before the end of the year to discuss your expression of interest.

Download the form