Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund
The Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund, run by the Museums Association, supports work by museums and community organisations to strengthen communities, using collections.
Provided by:
Museums Association
Funder website:
https://www.museumsassociation.org
Maximum value:
£110,000.00
Objective of fund:
We offer:
Partnership project grants to museums and community organisations that work equitably together and share aims for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We look for ambitious and compelling ideas for inclusive project work with collections, with a focus on how the work contributes to local community agendas and needs.
Core grants to museums that have established strategic aims for DEI, and that are ready to use their collections and our funding to support social and climate justice in ways that are relevant to local contexts and relationships. We look for work that addresses organisational or systemic change with potential for strong legacy and future community partnership. Applicants should move away from a project output approach and focus more on the organisational or systemic change that they wish to influence through their work.
Who can apply
To be considered for a partnership project grant, applications must:
Come from an equitable partnership between museum(s) and community organisation(s) that have developed the application together and that have an existing relationship on which to build.
Be for a time-limited project working with existing collections towards shared aims for diversity, equity and inclusion.
Be for work that supports and strengthens communities and/or meets an evidenced local need.
To be considered for a core grant, applications from single organisations must:
Be for core work that accelerates progress towards the established strategic aims of the applicant in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Develop the museum’s capability to work in equitable partnership and/or as an anchor organisation for a place or cause, in the long term.
Work with existing collections to embed community-led and democratised practice.
Restrictions
The Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund will not support:
Capital costs, including building work, renovations, and equipment.
Grants to individuals orto causes that will benefit only one person, including student grants or bursaries.
Work that does not have a direct benefit in the UK.
Organisations that are not constituted or do not have measures in place to guard against disproportionate “personal benefit”.
Work that is primarily the responsibility of statutory authorities using public funds e.g. social services.
The promotion of religion.
Retrospective funding, meaning support for work that has already taken place.
General appeals or circulars.
Eligible Expenditure
What to apply for:
Grants of £50,000-£110,000 over a period of up to three years.
The grant can make up any proportion of the overall budget for your work, including the full cost of a project without match or partnership funding.
Tell us about how you will work through the funded period:
Consider how you can apply the MA’s work on fair pay in museums, salary guidelines and inclusive recruitment. We expect grantees to undertake open recruitment according to an agreed job specification and description.
Consider how you can develop your equitable working practices, for example payment for lived experience.
Consider how you can develop a culture of care for staff, freelancers, volunteers, partners and participants.
Tell us about your local context and existing relationships with community and stakeholder groups and provide evidence of strategies and plans for inclusion, including partners where relevant.
Grant funding periods should begin within six months of the award of the grant (and must begin within 12 months). MA staff will work on an individual basis to meet your planned start date based on the needs of your work, setting funding outcomes and signing grant agreements.
How to apply
Full guidance and further details at https://media-library.museumsassociation.org/app/uploads/2026/09/28143005/Guidance-for-applicants-2027-FINAL.pdf