Grants of up to £20,000 are available to small and medium UK museums with fewer than 50,000 visitors each year for projects that are based on their collection’s needs and improve knowledge, care and access to UK heritage.
The Association of Independent Museums’ Museums Fundamentals Grant programme combines the invaluable collections care and conservation support from the Pilgrim Trust with funding from the Julia Rausing Trust. The grant encourages small and medium sized museums to create projects based on their collection’s needs, which improve knowledge, care and access to the UK's heritage.
Museums use their collections to tell stories and connect with visitors: to discover meaning behind objects and heritage, educate, entertain, inform and inspire. To do this they must know what is in their collection to see what stories they can tell and to have well-looked-after objects they can research, conserve, interpret and display. Museum Fundamentals will support small and medium sized museums with these core activities. Enabling them to care for collection’s more effectively and efficiently and to meet the standards required for Accreditation. Successful applicants will be given the opportunity to work with mentors, who can offer up to 2-3 days of support, to help guide and support them to deliver their project successfully.
To be eligible to apply, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Be an AIM member
- Be a UK registered charity, an organisation with exempt charitable status or a recognised public body (for example, a local authority museum)
- Be a small or medium museum
- Have fewer than 50,000 visitors per annum, and
- Own the collections that are the focus of the project.
Grants of up to £20,000 are available (Grants are divided into two tranches of £10,000) for:
- Collection care improvements
- Conservator-led training for staff and/or volunteers
- Developing collection management plans
- Developing emergency plans
- Employing an ICON (The Institute of Conservation)-accredited conservator to undertake remedial object conservation
- Environmental surveys
- Equipment such as environmental monitoring and control devices, UV filters, solar film, and blinds
- Integrated pest management
- Professional expertise
- Storage containers and packaging materials
A further grant of up to £10,000 can be used for the following:
- Collections management software
- Collections research
- Costs associated with the production of new displays and interpretation, including digitisation, photography, mounts and cases, etc.
- Documentation materials and equipment.
- Improvements to heating, lighting, and other building services that lead to improvements in collections care.
- Online access to collections.
- Small-scale building work to improve the condition of collections.
- Special advice and other activities to support collections review.
- Specialist technical advice, such as conservation treatment proposals.
- Staff costs, and
- Volunteer recruitment and expenses.
Two application rounds are scheduled for 2026, as follows:
Round 1
- Expressions of Interest – deadline Friday 6 February 2026 at 5pm
- Full application – deadline Friday 27 March 2026 at 5pm.
Round 2
- Expressions of Interest – deadline Friday 7 August 2026 at 5pm
- Full application – deadline Friday 25 September 2026 at 5pm
Further information, guidance and the Expression of Interest form is available on the Association’s website.
Applicants are welcome to contact the AIM Programmes and Grants Officer if they would like to discuss an application or access additional support.