Museum Freelance seeks new ideas and different voices

Are you frustrated by inequalities in the sector? Do you have bugbears about freelancing? Have you got ideas on how to improve things? Do you want to make a difference and drive change?

If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Our 2020 survey into freelancing in the sector and our poll on the impact of Covid-19 laid bare the many challenges and struggles that freelancers face and how unequitable freelancing can be.

We’re on a mission to change that, and are looking for freelancers and consultants who want to help us achieve this.

We’re therefore setting up a group to represent a wider range of freelance voices and perspectives, and to help to steer Museum Freelance projects.

The purpose of the panel

We’re very aware that our lived experiences aren’t the same as those of all of our community members.

We want to ensure that a wider range of freelancers and their voices are represented and heard, and that we champion the issues they care about and are most affected by.

Whilst we have always consulted with the Museum Freelance community, we’re keen to work with a regular group of freelancers and consultants who can contribute more deeply, in a sustained and meaningful way. We’re excited about the possibilities and opportunities that this may bring.

We’d like contributions to feed into our community projects.

The purpose of the panel will be to:

  • Help set the Museum Freelance agenda and priorities for our community projects

  • Help ensure that Museum Freelance is as inclusive as possible

  • Help decide how donations to our diversity fund are spent

  • Act as critical friends and challenge us

  • Open dialogues on issues that matter to freelancers

  • Contribute ideas about how we can best use our platform to make a difference with limited resources

  • Help us galvanise other freelancers to support our work

  • Support our lobbying and advocacy activities to sector organisations, funders and politicians

  • And come up with a name for the group.

We’re looking for people:

  • who freelance with museums, heritage, libraries, archives or galleries in the UK

  • who want to make a difference

  • who are not afraid to share their opinions

  • who will participate constructively and proactively as part of a team

  • who have ideas on how to improve freelancers’ working conditions, opportunities and well-being.

We welcome applications from across the freelance community, but to be more representative of the community we serve and to amplify the voices of people who are underrepresented in the museums and heritage sector, we particularly encourage applications from freelancers and consultants:

  • who are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds

  • who are working class or from working class backgrounds

  • who identify as LGBTQIA+

  • whose day-to-day activities are limited because of a long-term health problem or disability

  • who identify as neurodiverse

  • who are at the start of their career and/or in their first two years of freelancing.

The commitment:

The time commitment for panel members is likely to be:

  • a 90-minute/two-hour Zoom meeting once a quarter

  • ideas and input into a few email questions in between those sessions

  • ideally over a minimum of an 18-month term.

What we can offer:

  • the chance to amplify your voice and make a difference in the sector

  • free tickets to any webinars we develop / our annual conference

  • the chance to be a part of a friendly volunteer team

  • a reference about your involvement if desired.

How to apply

Please fill out this application form. We’re hoping to bring together a group of 6-10 freelancers/consultants to make up this panel initially. We will choose people who together will represent a range of demographics, perspectives, circumstances and priorities. The questions we ask in the form are to help us ensure the panel is representative of a diverse range of freelancers, but many are optional to fill out.

The deadline for applying is the end of Sunday, 21 March 2021. We’ll get back to all applicants by 16 April 2021 and hope to hold our first introductory Zoom by 14 May 2021.

If you have any questions or would like an informal chat with us about this ahead of potentially applying, please contact us via .

Apply now

About Museum Freelance

Museum Freelance is a community run by two freelancers for freelancers.

In the past year our voluntary work has included:

  • Running and disseminating the findings of the sector’s first substantial survey on freelancers and freelancing in the sector

  • Securing £15,000 funding from a charitable trust which was distributed to 30 freelancers in need of financial support as a result of Covid-19

  • Running a poll on the impact of Covid-19 on freelancers in the sector and using this to lobby for more support (the research was mentioned in the House of Lords)

  • Growing our LinkedIn group to over 1,500 members and expanding our website with over 30 new resources for freelancers developed by us and members of the community

  • Running free online information sessions about Arts Council England’s Project Grants and Developing Your Creative Practice Grants

  • Representing freelancers in our sector at a range of forums, for example the Museums Workforce Group and DCMS round table discussions on the impact of Covid-19.

Marge Ainsley