Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund 2024 Review Key Findings

This paper summarises the findings of research undertaken as part of a review of the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund in spring 2024. We want to thank and credit the seven researchers and their networks who contributed generously to the research and share their insights into the future priorities for funding museum participatory and community-led practice. The findings have influenced changes to the fund – including becoming the Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund – and will be useful for others in the museum sector (funders, policymakers and practitioners) to incorporate into their own work.

Between 2011 and 2024, the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund has awarded £14m in 191 grants to museums. It began as a fund to research, conserve and use stored museum collections and has evolved in hand with strategies at the Museums Association and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. From 2023 we began offering core as well as project funding, with a focus on funding museums and their community partners for inclusive collections and participation work. The fund supports social and climate justice using museum collections, in ways that are relevant to local contexts and relationships. In 2023 we also enhanced our networking and learning dissemination, for example introducing action learning sets for the early phase of a funding period.