Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund

The Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund, run by the Museums Association, supports work by museums and community organisations to strengthen communities, using collections.

We offer:

• Partnership project grants to museums and community organisations that work equitably together and share aims for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We look for ambitious and compelling ideas for inclusive project work with collections, with a focus on how the work contributes to local community agendas and needs.
• Core grants to museums that have established strategic aims for DEI, and that are ready to use their collections and our funding to support social and climate justice in ways that are relevant to local contexts and relationships. We look for work that addresses organisational or systemic change with potential for strong legacy and future community partnership. Applicants should move away from a project output approach and focus more on the organisational or systemic change that they wish to influence through their work.

Grants of up to £110,000 over a maximum of three years are available and we expect to award around 12 grants per year in two funding rounds (see dates below). The next deadline for expressions of interest is 20 January 2027.

The fund has a twin focus on communities and collections. We anticipate this will result in work that explores and influences key themes in social and climate justice, such as social cohesion, decolonisation, climate crisis, anti-racism and others. Importantly, we will look for local relevance, for example asking how people or communities are centred in the work and how you have decided who to work with.

Our 2026 review of progress and long-term impact highlighted museums acting as anchor organisations in communities and as valuable civic spaces for community-led work.

For more information, visit Museums Association

For more information click here