Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund

Using museum collections to improve inclusion and equitable working with community partners

The Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund is the evolution of the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, with a new name that better represents our dual focus on collections and inclusion. We award the fund on behalf of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and have awarded £16m in over 200 grants since 2011.

The overall purpose of the Communities and Collections Fund remains the same as in 2023-24. However, we have updated our processes to better support the best of the types of application we have been receiving; and to take the fund further in the direction of the changes made in 2022.

In the case of partnership grants, we would encourage you to have this partnership in place before approaching us for an initial conversation.

The changes are informed by a spring 2024 review of our impact in the context of the wider UK museum sector and the society in which it exists. Below are links to two documents that have shaped our thinking:

• The key findings of a group of museum and community researchers who contributed to the review
• A practice insights briefing from the facilitator who convened our action learning sets of grantees

Expressions of interest are now open for December 2026 grants. The next deadline is 22 July 2026.

For more information, visit Museums Association

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