LONDON.- Art Fund, the national charity for museums and galleries, is awarding £1.3 million to drive innovative collections work in museums and galleries across the UK in the final round of its Reimagine funding programme.

The funding will support ambitious projects ranging from a pioneering new model for the care and treatment of ancestral remains at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, to the first major redisplay of Britain’s second-oldest museum at Spalding Gentlemen’s Society, and an immersive revival of early electric light at Cragside.

A total of 29 museums and galleries across all four UK nations will share £1.2 million, with a further £100,000 distributed through Museum Development England, Northern Ireland Museums Council and Museums Galleries Scotland to provide microgrants for smaller organisations – ensuring support reaches museums of every size.

Launched in 2020 in response to the pandemic, Reimagine was developed to address the most urgent challenges facing UK museums. This final round focuses on collections – a cornerstone of Art Fund’s mission and one of the areas of museum practice with the greatest demand for funding.

The UK is home to some of the world’s most remarkable collections, yet the resources required to care for and interpret them are increasingly strained. Art Fund’s Museum Directors Survey in 2024 found that 56% of museums cite a lack of funding for collections as a major barrier to essential work such as digitisation, collections reviews and acquisitions.

The projects supported through Reimagine this year reflect the breadth, ambition and creativity of collections work happening across the UK – from The Burton at Bideford in North Devon, to Monlife Museums in Monmouthshire, Wales and Belfast Exposed in Northern Ireland. Highlights include:

• Cragside, National Trust (Morpeth, Northumberland) has been awarded £50,000 for Sparking Curiosity: Recreating the Wonder of Electric Light – to reimagine Cragside’s Library and its collection of Japanese cloisonné lamp bases, creating an immersive experience that rekindles the wonder of early electric light.

• Dunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds (Oban, Scotland) has been awarded £43,720 for Returning Regency Fashion to Inveraray Castle – a partnership project bringing Dunollie’s rare Regency-era textiles and archival stories to Inveraray Castle through two exhibitions celebrating Highland heritage.

• Horniman Museum and Gardens (Forest Hill, London) has been awarded £49,992 for REPAIR: Community Stewardship Model for Care and Treatment of Ancestral Remains – to pilot a community-led stewardship model for ancestral remains, embedding culturally specific care and documentation protocols, setting a new standard for collection management practices across the sector.

• Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge) has been awarded £46,021 for What’s the point? Documenting and recontextualising Pacific arrows – to advance understanding of over 2,000 Pacific arrows through new research and scientific analysis, creating resources to guide the wider sector.

• Museum of Chelmsford (Chelmsford, Essex) has been awarded £46,190 for Your Voice, Our Collection - an intergenerational volunteer programme with people living with dementia and young people to catalogue collections, culminating in a co-curated exhibition of Chelmsford’s top 50 artefacts.

• Museum of the Order of St John (Clerkenwell, London) has been awarded £48,307 for Fabric of Community – to transform the care and interpretation of its uniform collection ahead of St John Ambulance’s 150th anniversary, informed by research and lived experience testimonies.

• Newham Council (London) has been awarded £39,165 for Inspired Art: Madge Gill – a three-year project to place Madge Gill’s work on permanent display, establish artist residencies, community programmes and new resources that support wellbeing and cultural engagement at Newham Heritage Centre.

• Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) has been awarded £47,500 for Reimagining Ceremony and Welcome – a project to co-design new culturally informed protocols and symbolic forms of welcome, embedding ceremony and ritual into museum practice and helping to transform the museum’s organisational culture.

• Science Museum Group (UK-wide) has been awarded £50,000 for Preserving Our Digital Heritage – a project which will convene museums across the UK to develop solutions for preserving fragile digital heritage, ensuring contemporary digital culture is safeguarded for future generations.

• Spalding Gentlemen’s Society (Spalding, Lincolnshire) has been awarded £45,880 for The SGS Museum Reimagined – the first major redisplay of Britain’s second-oldest museum in over a century, bringing new voices to six galleries and fresh perspectives to its historic collections.

Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund, said: “At the core of Art Fund’s purpose is supporting museums to develop, care for and share the collections that enrich people’s lives. From acquisitions and commissions to vital collections work, we’re proud to support organisations of all sizes in every corner of the country. This final round of Reimagine funding continues that commitment – supporting museums to explore their collections, connect with communities and ensure that works of art, objects and their stories are shared and preserved for future generations.”

Over the past five years, Reimagine has supported over 245 museums and galleries, helping organisations reach new audiences, develop inclusive workforces, and build resilient partnerships. Art Fund is now consulting with the sector to shape future programmes – including the forthcoming Museum Directors Survey in early 2026 – ensuring the next phase of support continues to meet the evolving needs of museums and their collections.