Revenue grants of between £40,000 and £100,000 are available to Museum Association members for work that improves inclusion and equitable working with community partners to improve access to museum collections.
The Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund is the evolution of the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, with a new name that better represents the Foundation’s dual focus on collections and inclusion. Since 2011, grants totalling £16 million have been awarded on behalf of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
The Fund, which is being managed by the Museums Association on behalf of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, now places a greater emphasis on supporting work with museum collections to improve inclusion and equitable working with community partners. It offers:
- Core grants to museums that have established strategic aims for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and that are ready to use their collections and the Foundation’s funding to support social and climate justice, in ways that are relevant to local contexts and relationships, and
- Partnership project grants to museums and community organisations that work equitably together and share aims for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with ambitious and compelling ideas for inclusive project work with collections.
Revenue grants of between £40,000 and £100,000 over a maximum of 3 years are available. The Foundation expects to award around 12 grants per year in 2 funding rounds. This is the second funding round for 2025/26.
The Foundation wants to support a range of museums and partnerships through the Fund, from those that are starting out in their participatory practice, to those that are leading change on behalf of the museum sector and working equitably with communities.
Partnership applications must include at least one Museum Association institutional member museum partner. It is expected that the museum partner(s) will hold collections that will be used during the partnership project and that a museum partner is typically well positioned to receive and coordinate funding on behalf of the group.
Applicants, or one applicant in a partnership, are normally expected to be accredited or working towards accreditation. However, occasional exceptions may be made for organisations that are not accredited museums but whose activities are based on the care and interpretation of collections of historical, artistic or scientific interest, provided they are in the public sector or have charitable status.
Funding is most likely to go to organisations where applicants can demonstrate the Foundation’s investment can make the most difference.
For core grants, it is expected that grants will be awarded to smaller and medium-sized museums where the grant is a relatively high proportion of turnover or where the museum has few other sources of core funding.
Museums that have previously received project funding are welcome to apply again to the Communities and Collections Fund for work that builds on earlier experience. In the future, core-funded grantees may also reapply for the next stage of their work. However, the core grants are intended to support a particular stage in a museum’s strategic development so repeat funding will be rare and continuous funding is unlikely to be offered.
Please note that all applicants will be required to have a Safeguarding policy for Vulnerable Adults.
The timeline for decisions in June 2026 is:
From November 2025 onwards: eligible organisations interested in applying should contact the Museums Association (MA) to discuss their idea(s) - see contact details for the Programmes Manager and the Collections Development Lead below.
- Wednesday 21 January 2026: deadline for submission of Expressions of Interest.
- Week commencing Sunday 23 February 2026: shortlisted applicants confirmed.
- Wednesday 13 May 2026: deadline for shortlisted applicants to make their second stage application.
- End of June 2026: grants awarded.
Further information and guidance is available on the Museum Association’s website.