Making the Most of MDSE Open Grants: How to access the new grants in 2025

Waitlist

If the ticket type for your region has sold out, please join our waitlist here https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/116SQO/

Trainer

Stephen Lowy, Deputy Programme Manager

What will be covered?

The next round of MD South East Open Grants launches in September 2025. It’s a very competitive process and this session is designed to help you get the best out of your application. In this session we will take you through the application process, assessment criteria and how decisions are made.

Though focused on our museum development grant programme, learning should be transferable when applying to other funding bodies.

The session will be an opportunity for those who want to ask any specific questions.

Learning objectives

• Understand the process of how to submit a funding application to MDSE
• Understand what the MDSE grant criteria's are
• Identify what makes a clear SMART Target
• How to link your project evaluation to your project targets

Accreditation Standards Link:

• 1.1 clear statement of purpose
• 2.1 a forward/business plan

Who should attend?

• Museums and networks eligible for MDSE Grants
• Workforce, trustees and volunteers associated with Accredited or WTA museums in the south east
• Those representing south east museum networks who maybe interested in applying for grants in 2025

Accessibility

To help us ensure you get the most out of the session, you will be asked to email us with any access requirements you may have when you complete your order form. Please see the list of examples of adjustments we can make. This list is not exhaustive and we would be happy to accommodate other requirements where possible, please email us to discuss.

Eligibility

MDSE is funded by Arts Council England (ACE) to support museums in the South East of England within ACE’s Accreditation scheme. The South East is defined as the local authority areas of:

• Bedfordshire (Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton Borough)
• Berkshire (Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor & Maidenhead and Wokingham)
• Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock
• Hertfordshire
• Kent and Medway
• Norfolk
• Oxfordshire
• Suffolk
• Surrey
• East Sussex and Brighton & Hove
• West Sussex

We prioritise places on our training programmes for museums which are Accredited or officially Working Towards Accreditation. ACE publishes the official lists of Accredited and Working Towards Accreditation museums on its website. Where possible we will make places available for museums which do not meet these criteria but the number of places will vary depending on the event format.

Terms & Conditions:

For full details of our programmes conditions, see our Terms and Conditions on our website

By booking a place on to a Museum Development South East training event, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions:

• That you are from a South East museum which is in Arts Council England’s Museum Accreditation Scheme. Where this is not applicable you acknowledge that MDSE will facilitate your attendance if availability permits and that you or your organisation will pay any fees which may apply.
• It is a condition of receiving this ACE funded training that the online evaluation sent to the email address provided at the point of booking is completed by the specified deadline. This deadline is in the email notification unless a paper evaluation is specifically requested and submitted on the day of the training session.
• By booking a place you agree that you will make every endeavour to attend the event and you will give us at least 24 hours’ notice if you need to cancel your booking. If you repeatedly cancel your booking without sufficient notice you agree that we may exercise our right to remove you from future event bookings.