The Museum Freelance Covid-19 Hardship Fund

Museum Freelance have launched a grant fund to provide emergency support for freelancers who work with museums, heritage sites, galleries, archives and libraries in the UK. The ambition is to provide short-term relief to freelancers whose income has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Museum Freelance has secured a £7,500 grant to provide emergency support for freelancers who work with museums, heritage sites, galleries, archives and libraries in the UK.

The Museum Freelance Covid-19 Hardship Fund is for freelancers who are in urgent need of critical financial support due to the devastating impact of Covid-19 on their work and livelihood, and who have not been eligible for and received the government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

The fund has been made possible thanks to a generous grant from a charitable trust that wishes to remain anonymous, and will be distributed by the Museums Association – we are enormously grateful to both organisations and their supportive representatives.

About the grants

There are 15 one-off £500 grants available to freelancers. The grant does not need to be repaid.

Our ambition is to provide short-term relief to freelancers whose income has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and who as a result are struggling to make ends meet. The fund is to meet critical needs such as mortgage repayments, rent, food, and childcare costs and for people with no financial buffer to fall back on. It is not intended to cover business development costs or expenses such as CPD and equipment.

Applicants will need to meet certain eligibility criteria as detailed below.

Deadline

Applications are now open and will close on 4 September 2020. Applicants will be notified about the outcome by 11 September and successful applicants will receive their grant via the Museums Association by 25 September 2020.

Eligibility criteria

The Museum Freelance Covid-19 Hardship Fund is for freelancers who work with museums, heritage sites, galleries, archives or libraries in the UK in areas such as: activity planning, audience development, collections, conservation, curation, engagement, events, exhibitions, fundraising, governance, interpretation, learning, marketing, organisational development, research and training.

To be considered for an emergency grant of £500 from the Museum Freelance Covid-19 Hardship Fund, you must meet the following criteria:

• You are a resident of the UK
• You earn the majority of your income through self-employment with museums, heritage sites, galleries, archives or libraries
• You started actively working as a freelancer on or before 31st December 2019
• You need urgent financial assistance due to the Covid-19 pandemic
• You have not been eligible for or received the government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) – for example because you started freelancing after April 2019; you were previously majority employed in the SEISS eligibility years but are now majority self-employed; or because you are the owner/director of a limited company excluded from the government’s financial support packages.

This fund is for freelancers who are in urgent need of critical financial support due to the devastating impact of Covid-19 on their work and livelihood. When applying please consider whether you truly need these funds – we want to make sure this fund goes to those who are most in need in the museum freelance community. We reserve the right to request additional documents which confirm your eligibility and may contact you if we have any questions about your application.

How to apply

Complete this very short form.

Awards administration

Museum Freelance is organising the promotion, administration of and applications to the fund; the Museums Association is responsible for distributing the grants to successful applicants.

Applications that meet the eligibility criteria will be anonymised, with 15 drawn at random by the Museum Freelance team, observed by Museums Association representatives in an online live draw.

We understand the sensitivity for applicants and will treat applicants’ data confidentially and with respect. Only the Museum Freelance team and a core team from the Museums Association will have access to this data. Please refer to our privacy policy.

For any questions about the grant, please contact museumfreelance@gmail.com.

About Museum Freelance

Museum Freelance is a network set up to support and champion freelancers and consultants working with museums, galleries, archives, libraries, and heritage sites. We:

• Organise an annual conference for freelancers
• Lobby for freelancers and represent the museum freelance community at conferences, seminars
• Deliver training courses for freelancers who are thinking about or are new to freelancing
• Run workshops for organisations who want to work effectively with freelancers
• Keep the conversation going on twitter @museumfreelance
• Arrange regional social meet-ups
• Encourage debate and discussion on our LinkedIn Group
• Produce a regular e-newsletter.

We provide a platform for arts and heritage freelancers to collaborate, network, share news and opportunities. The Network is run by Christina Lister, Co-founder and Marge Ainsley.

museumfreelance.org