October Issue 2005

The AIM Bulletin is the main communication channel for the UKs 1000+ independent museums and heritage organisations - half the total provision for the British Isles - which have been in the forefront of the museum movement for over 25 years.

IN THIS ISSUE 

• Museum Development Officers are crucial in providing advice to small and voluntary-run museums and the network should be extended with additional funding. That is the conclusion of an MLA/AIM mapping exercise into the provision of MDOs across England.  AIM campaigned hard for the role of MDOs to be enhanced and is delighted to have played a major role in the project.  MLA now wants to carry out further research to establish the quality of museum development activity and develop performance indicators. Subject to full evaluation, it feels funding should be continued for newly-created MDO posts and services and additional funding should be secured for building capacity in existing services and creating new posts where needed.  Page 1
  
  
• AIM’s Sustainability Scheme workshops begin in October at Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent, followed by eight more around England, Scotland and Wales. The workshops are an important element in the scheme, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, which aims to help smaller museums become more self-sustainable.  The workshops, open to all independent museums, will concentrate on governance, collection care, business planning, marketing, staff and volunteer training, IT, retail and catering. Further information: Roger Hornshaw on 02392 587751, email aimadmin@museums.org.uk.  Page 3.
  
  
• Independent museums must stay “independent of mind” if they are to survive, says AIM chairman Bill Ferris, in this issue’s Comment column. Ingenuity, innovation, hard work, business acumen, volunteer engagement, opportunity spotting and determination will be critical to their survival in the future, he stresses.  The debate about Renaissance in the Regions and the negative impact on many independent museums had to be seen in the context of a wider world where there was no such thing as free money, and hand-outs came with strings.  These things could affect our independence but as independents we also had much to offer others.  Survival tactics had unlocked “the great Gift Aid opportunity” and the same approach was needed to make other projects work for us.   Page 3.
  
  
• Are you including all your relevant overheads in your funding applications?  There is growing recognition that project costs should include apportioned overheads to make them work successfully. It’s called ‘full cost recovery’ and is slowly being recognised by Government and major funders as an acceptable part of project funding applications.  Museums had “consistently under-applied for project funding for years,” says AIM vice chairman Sam Mullins.  AIM honorary secretary Mattew Tanner, who has just completed a major redevelopment programme at ss Great Britain, said museums should lobby for greater acceptance of the concept by funders.  Meanwhile acevo (Association of Chief Executives in Voluntary Organisations) has produced a publication, Full Cost Recovery: a guide and toolkit on cost allocation, at £20.00.
  Further information: 0845 345 8481, www.acevo.org.uk.  Page 5.
  
  
• MLA is lobbying for a single strategic and funding body for museums and galleries. In its response to the Department for Culture Media and Sport’s consultation on the future of England’s museums, it suggests the body should have a remit similar to those of Arts Council England and Sports Council, and feels MLA itself should evolve into that role. MLA chairman Mark Wood says one body providing leadership, funding and a strong, unified voice for the sector would result in greater improvements in collections, services and standards. MLA’s response echoes that of AIM, in its own submission to DCMS  - AIM has been calling for a single strategic solution for the sector since its early years.  “The museum sector is currently labouring under layers of bureaucracy which means what money there is spreads too thinly and in the wrong places,” says AIM chairman Bill Ferris. “We need to get the message across that vibrant museums need proper funding and unified management, accessible advice and effective support. Museums have shown that they are excellent value for money for the public and the communities they support – this can be built on even further with the appropriate backing. Independent museums have led innovation and pioneered management flexibility in the sector and AIM has been calling for a single strategic body for years.  Let’s hope the Government not only listens, but acts.”   Page 7.
  
  
• Regimental and Corps museums are worth nearly £6 million, a recent survey by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust (AMOT) has discovered. The trust, which represents 150 small and medium-sized museums  throughout the country, undertook the research to demonstrate that the contribution made by the museums was ‘value for money’ to the Ministry of Defence (MOD).  In 2003-04 AMOT museums attracted 3,476,090 visitors and the value of voluntary work in the museums was £1,862,319.  Expenditure by museums, excluding MOD and local authority funding, stood at £3,993,521, reflecting a growing business culture in the museums’ operation. Page 11.
  

Also in this issue 

• ss Great Britain is transformed following a major redevelopment project
• Independent museums benefit from DCMS/Wolfson grants
• Talyllyn Railway opens new Twywyn Wharf station and narrow gauge railway museum
• Progress on new Gift Aid scheme
• Museum of Kent Life celebrates 20 years
• The Boat Museum opens new interactive exhibition
• Arts & Business opportunities for museums
• Wake-up call for digitised collections
• Investing in volunteers – how a training programme built capacity in small museums
• Museums in the running for Futurebuilders funding
• MuseumProfile: Heron Corn Mill and Museum of Paper-making, Cumbria
  

Plus

Information on AIM’s latest events, AIM’s Trading Survey, the Bob Harding Training Fund Bursaries and FOCUS information papers, and the two-page AIM Directory – 30+ providers of products and services for the museum sector.
Further information contacts:
Roger Hornshaw, AIM Adminstrator Tel 02392 587751 aimadmin@museum.org.uk
Bill Ferris, AIM chairman - Tel 01634 823800  Fax 01634 832801 wferris@chdt.org.uk
Diana Zeuner, AIM Bulletin editor - Tel/Fax 01730 812419  heavyhorse@mistral.co.uk.