Tender opportunity: Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund evaluation - Museums Association
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  3. Tender opportunity: Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund evaluation

Tender opportunity: Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund evaluation

  • Organisation: Museums Association
  • Closing date: 23.03.2025
  • Budget: £10,000 inclusive of any applicable VAT

Introduction

The Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund, supported by the Julia Rausing Trust, is a new grants programme supporting UK museums to develop and continue sector-leading health and wellbeing work through a time of financial crisis and to embed excellent practice. The Museums Association (MA) is seeking an external evaluation partner to help us shape, understand and evaluate the impact of the fund.

Context

The MA has developed the Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund, with the generous support of the Julia Rausing Trust, as a part of our flagship campaign, Museums Change Lives. Since 2014, Museums Change Lives has encouraged and celebrated the many ways in which museums enhance health and wellbeing and our case studies capture some examples of leading practice across the UK.

We have seen from our advocacy work that health and wellbeing programmes are often reliant on temporary project funding and are now at critical risk from budget cuts across the UK museums sector.

In this context, we want to help museums to continue and develop their health and wellbeing work through a time of financial crisis; and to add value to this work by helping museums to embed their excellent practice in their organisations.

The fund builds on our experience managing the Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund and the Mindsets + Missions programme, in awarding grant funds with additional networking and coaching support as a cohort of funded museums.

Members of the Health and Wellbeing in Museums cohort will support one another; and also gather learning for the MA to share more widely and to inspire others. Network meetings will take place three times per year once the first grants are awarded and learning dissemination resources, case studies and events will be shared throughout the programme.

It is in this spirit of collaboration and reflexive practice that we want to work with an external evaluator to make the most of the opportunity this funding provides. We would like to work closely with the appointed evaluator to benefit from formative evaluation and a synchronised approach to planning:

  • how grantees are asked to report on their projects;
  • the data that the MA gathers in house;
  • and the independent work of the evaluator.

We think this will require an evaluation framework that the MA and appointed evaluator agree together and a series of reporting points so that the MA can respond to feedback as the programme progresses. Key dates are included in the timeline below to give a sense of how the programme will run, to support you in thinking about the approach you propose in your tender.

We have a logic model that details intended outcomes and outputs for the Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund. In addition to measuring our progress towards these outcomes, we are interested in understanding and creating resources to share:

  • the difference that being part of a cohort supported by the MA makes;
  • how to embed excellent practice and build legacy from projects;
  • how the funded projects relate to key issues in health and wellbeing, such as health inequalities;
  • future needs and potential for funders and sector development.

Given that we are open to input and keen to develop a good working relationship with the appointed evaluator, we anticipate reviewing and updating our plans, including the logic model, at an early stage of working together.

Timeline

  • Deadline to submit tender: 23 March 2025
  • Selection discussion meetings: 10 April 2025
  • Create evaluation framework with MA: May 2025
  • 2025 grants awarded: September 2025
  • Baseline evaluation with 2025 grantees, first network meeting for the funded cohort (organised and run by the MA): October 2025
  • Network meetings take place every c. four months thereafter (organised and run by the MA): January, May, September to January 2028
  • Interim evaluation update: September 2026
  • 2026 grants awarded: September 2026
  • Baseline evaluation with 2026 grantees: October 2026
  • MA annual reporting to Julia Rausing Trust: October 2026
  • Final evaluation report: January 2028
  • MA final reporting to Julia Rausing Trust: March 2028

Budget

The total budget for this work is £10,000, inclusive of any applicable VAT. Most work will be conducted remotely, but where travel is necessary the MA will cover costs agreed in advance. We’d anticipate that data capture and collation would be undertaken by the MA with analysis and reporting by the evaluator and that this would be defined and detailed in the evaluation framework.

How to submit a tender

Contact Sarah Briggs, grants manager, via sarah@museumsassociation.org. 

Please submit a brief proposal for how you would undertake the work by email to Sarah Briggs by 5.00pm on 23 March 2025. Your proposal should be no longer than 10 pages and should cover:

  • How you will undertake the work to time and budget
  • Your relevant experience, skills and knowledge. We are looking for a robust understanding of the UK museum sector, preferably in the context of health, wellbeing or socially-engaged work

If your tender is being taken forward, you will be invited to a discussion meeting, online, on 10 April.

We are actively seeking and welcome applications from people from a range of diverse backgrounds, particularly people with disabilities, people of colour, people who identify as LGBTQ+ and people from a range of socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

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