Museum & Learning Engagement Grant FAQs

This page will be updated as questions arise.

If you have a question that isn’t covered here, please email grants@mdmidlands.org.uk with your question and we’ll be in touch.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

• My organisation or project is not in a Cultural Priority Place (CPP). Can I still apply, and how can I demonstrate need? 

Yes. Any Midlands museum that is either ACE Accredited or Working Towards Accreditation can apply for an MLE grant Applications that work in DCMS Cultural Priority Places (CPPs) will be prioritised. You can view the current list of CPPs on the Arts Council England website. 

You do not need to be based or working in a CPP to apply. However, all applicants should explain the need for their project and the difference it will make for children and young people. 

If you are working in an area outside a CPP, you may wish to include evidence that helps demonstrate local need. This could include information about levels of cultural engagement, deprivation, educational disadvantage, or other relevant local factors. Providing this evidence is not a requirement, but it may help strengthen your application by providing additional context for your project. 

You can use the following resources to provide further detail if you are working in an area of high deprivation and low cultural engagement outside one of the Cultural Priority Places: 

Deprivation in England search tool:  https://deprivation.communities.gov.uk/ 

Arts Council England Cultural Data Explorer, including mapped results of the Cultural Participation Survey 2023-2024: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/your-area/culture-and-place-data-explorer   

House of Commons Library - Constituency data: Free school meals in England: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10874/ 

Gov.uk statement of pupil premiums for 2026 to 2027: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2026-to-2027 

  ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

• Bid-writing support: I’ve got a project idea but need some support with writing my application. Can I speak to someone? 

If you would like support to develop your project idea you can book a one-to-one development session with Jenni Waugh. Please contact grants@mdmidlands.org.uk for more information. Please allow at least five working days' notice to arrange a session.  

 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

• Reporting: What is backfill and how do I evidence backfill spend? 

In grant funding terms, backfill means covering the duties of an existing employee while they spend time working on the funded project. 

For example: 

• A Learning Officer spends one day a week delivering the MLE project. 

• The museum uses grant funding to pay another member of staff, a temporary employee, or additional hours for an existing employee to cover the Learning Officer's usual duties. 

This replacement cover is known as backfill. 

To evidence backfill spend, you should be able to show both: 

• That the original member of staff spent time working on the funded project. 

• That the cost of covering their usual duties was actually incurred. 

Examples of evidence may include: 

• Timesheets or staff time records. 

• Payroll records. 

• Employment contracts or contract variations. 

• Overtime claims. 

• Temporary staffing invoices. 

• Internal records showing how duties were covered during the project period. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————