Using museum collections to improve inclusion and equitable working with community partners
We are pleased to announce that the Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund has been renewed and we will be offering two rounds of funding per year in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
The fund, run by the Museums Association, supports work by museums and community organisations to strengthen communities, using collections.
The overall purpose of the Communities and Collections Fund will be consistent with 2025-26. Our updated guidance and selection criteria will be a further step towards equitable partnership working and exploring the roles museums can have to strengthen communities and engage in social and climate justice.
We will still offer core grants and partnership project grants, but we are adding to our guidance to better differentiate what we look for in each type of grant application. Our application processes will remain the same and our grant thresholds have increased with inflation.
The Communities and Collections Fund began in 2025, building on previous grant-making as the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund between 2011-24. In designing the fund we set a direction of travel to support inclusive and community-led collections work in museums, towards social and climate justice.
This was informed by research with museum and community organisation contributors in 2024, as well as the MA’s Museums Change Lives campaign and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s strategic aims for Creative, Confident Communities. In 2026 we reviewed the progress of our work and its long term impact. The continuation of the fund 2027-29 is the result of this review.
We will publish renewed criteria and guidance and open the fund for applications in the week commencing 28 September 2026.
Key downloads
- EFCCF review report, April 2026 pdf
- EFCCF impact review, April 2026 pdf
- Working Equitably: A toolkit for museums and community organisations pdf
- Gweithio Mewn Ffordd Deg: Pecyn cymorth ar gyfer amgueddfeydd a grwpiau cymunedol (Cymraeg) pdf
- Wellbeing Guidance: Creating a culture of care for museums and community partners pdf
- Canllawiau llesiant: creu diwylliant o ofal ar gyfer amgueddfeydd a’u partneriaid cymunedol (Cymraeg) pdf
“Esmée Fairbairn is proud to continue our partnership with the Museums Association to support the Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund. It has become a key part of our Creative, Confident Communities funding and both Esmée and the MA are ambitious for the fund to build the capacity and confidence of museums as civic spaces, playing active roles in civic life and working equitably with community partners.”
Alison Holdom, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Further downloads and links
- Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund: lessons learned, June 2025 (pdf)
- Successful EFCCF projects to June 2026 (pdf)
- 2024 review key findings – Eleri Butler Consultancy practice insights briefing (pdf)
- Practice insights – case studies (pdf)
Schedule a call or contact us
Please contact Sarah Briggs or Sally Colvin for advice on eligibility for the fund and help to develop applications.
- Sarah Briggs, grants manager: sarah@museumsassociation.org, 020 7566 7834
- Sally Colvin, programmes manager: sally@museumsassociation.org, 020 7566 7851
Case studies
Museums Northumberland
Shaping the future of collections with the community through Femmer to Firmer
Horniman Museum and Gardens
Addressing colonial legacies through co-production with 茶, चाय, Tea (Cha, Chai, Tea)
Museum of Free Derry
Working towards a representative recounting of history through the Conflict and Legacy Interpretive Network
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery
Deaccessioning of material from the Derbyshire and Derby School Library Service
The Foundling Museum
Engaging audiences at the heart of the museum's story with Shared Stories, Shared Voices
