# **Annual Report and Accounts 31 December 2025** 

Charity Registration No. 1082215 Company Registration No. 1350939 



## **Contents** 

|Reference & Administrative Information|3|
|---|---|
|Trustees’ Annual Report|6|
|Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities|20|
|Independent Auditors’ Report|26|
|Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2025|31|
|Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2025|32|
|Statement of Cash Flow as at 31 December 2025|33|
|Notes forming part of the Financial Statements||
|for the Year ended 31 December 2025|35|



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## **Reference and Administrative Information** 

The Trustees present their Annual Report & Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025, in accordance with the Companies Act 2006. The Accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in Note 1 of the Accounts and comply with the Charity’s governing document, applicable law, and the Statement of Recommended Practice, ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’, 2019. The Charity qualifies as a small entity under section 383 of the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013 and a Strategic Report is therefore not required. 

Trustees / Directors: Christine Bernath Sajida Carr Mhairi Cross Laura Crossley Philip Dolling Sarah Duthie Rhiannon Goddard (Chair) Nathaniel Hepburn MBE (Deputy Chair) Emily Frankish (nee Hope) Charlotte Morgan Elizabeth Power Alexander Ratcliffe (Deputy Chair) Angela Spreadbury Camilla Stewart Director (Executive): Lisa Ollerhead 

Hon. President: Sir Neil Cossons OBE (d. 29th March 2026) 

Company Incorporated: 1 February 1978 

Charity Registration: 30 August 2000 

Charity Registration Number: 1082215 

Company Registration Number: 1350939 

VAT Registration Number: 355372196 

Registered and Contact Office: AIM Office c/o National Waterways Museum South Pier Road Ellesmere Port Cheshire CH65 4FW United Kingdom 

Hon. Vice Presidents: Sam P Mullins OBE Michael Day CVO Matthew Tanner MBE 

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## **Reference and Administrative Information** 

Independent Auditors: Crowe UK LLP Chartered Accountants Black Country House Rounds Green Road Oldbury West Midlands B69 2DG United Kingdom 

Principal Bankers: Barclays Bank plc (Barclays Corporate) Chesterfield Derbyshire S40 1LS United Kingdom 

Aldermore Bank plc 1st Floor, Block B Western House Lynch Wood Peterborough PE2 6FZ United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 333 305 8060 

Email: aimadmin@aim-museums.co.uk 

Website: aim-museums.co.uk 

LinkedIn: aim-association-of-independent-museums 

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"i .
Trustees,
Report and
chair's review

## **Chair’s Review of the Year** 

On 1st January 2025 I became AIM’s Chair after seven years on the Board.  I was honoured to take up this appointment which was a first in several ways: the first time AIM had held an open recruitment for Chair; and the first time a woman has held the role in AIM’s nearly fifty years. The Board I now chair is well-established, with an effective mix of skills, experiences, and museum, heritage and cultural specialties represented around the table well-placed to lead AIM’s work in the run up to our 50th anniversary celebrations. In 2025 we were joined by Angela Spreadbury, a highly experienced finance director in the sector and a qualified accountant, rounding out our skills mix and taking AIM further on our own journey to be what we support our members to become – flourishing, well-run, well-governed charities. 

I have had the good fortune to become Chair at an exciting time for AIM. In 2025 we have been on a financially solid footing, with the Arts Council England funding that supports our core work secured from 2023 now until the end of March 2028. From this grounding in public funding we have been able to build partnerships with new funders, with Julia Rausing Trust funding coming onstream at the beginning of the year and a generous new award from the Swire Trust at the end, enabling us to offer more of our valued services to museums of all types. 

In 2025 and coming into 2026 we further reinforced our credentials as a research-forward organisation. We published pieces on the creative industries, working with the National Museums Directors’ Council (NMDC), and outdoor space ownership and management, with NMDC and the Welsh Government, alongside the major piece we published in early 2026 on operating models. Our research keeps a sharp focus on findings and resources that are of practical use to our members and the sector as a whole – much like our conference programme, which is designed around what delegates can go back to the office on Monday and do. In 2025 we had two stimulating and lively days at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with the Mary Rose Museum and National Museum of the Royal Navy. The value and joy our members found in being together is shaping our next phase of work to strengthen AIM’s community. 

Recent months have brought both momentum and mounting pressure for the sector. With the post 2024 election administration now settled at Westminster, we saw important announcements in 2025, demonstrating the impact of coordinated advocacy when the Museums Renewal Fund was announced to support civic museums. Yet for many museums the reality remains extremely tough, with a number reporting acute financial challenges and, in some cases, closures. As always, we encourage any member museum at risk to come forward to AIM at the earliest opportunity so we can explore how we can support you. Our recent success is a reminder that sustained advocacy work matters and can make a real difference, and we remain firmly committed to it. 

## Chair’s Thanks 

Stepping up to become Chair has been an enjoyable challenge and I am grateful to the members of the Board for their expertise and commitment to AIM. I would also like to recognise and thank my predecessor, Andrew Lovett OBE, for his tireless work as an AIM Board member and then Chair particularly his work steering the organisation through the pandemic and advocating so successfully for sector support. 

I am grateful to our generous funders for their support for our members, including Arts Council England, the Welsh Government, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Julia Rausing Trust, and the Swire Trust. 

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My thanks as always to the AIM team: Christine Andrews, Helen Farress, Margaret Harrison, Lisa Ollerhead, Kate Prescott, Catrin Salvatore, Matt Smith, and Fiona Woolley. 

Above all, thank you to AIM’s members for continuing to place your trust in AIM to represent, help, and support you. I have been part of AIM’s world for many years, as member, Board member, and now Chair, and I continue to thoroughly enjoy being part of this dedicated, passionate, hardworking community. In 2027 we will be celebrating AIM’s 50th anniversary: fifty years of independent museums coming together around shared purpose and voice. We are really looking forward to marking this milestone with you. 

## In memoriam 

As we finalised the annual report for 2025 we received the sad news that our President, Sir Neil Cossons, passed away on 29th March 2026. Neil was not only an advocate for independent museums but someone who made things happen, leaving an enduring mark through his role in the founding of AIM and across the museums and heritage organisations he led, supported and served as a trustee for. His continued involvement  with both AIM and members as well as the wider heritage sector means he will be greatly missed. We extend our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. 


## **Rhiannon Goddard Chair** 

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## **Introducing AIM** 

## AIM’s membership 

AIM is the voice of over 1,000 museums and heritage organisations. Most are from the UK’s largest grouping of museums: the independents. In practice we welcome any museum or heritage organisation, or individual or organisation from associated sectors and businesses, that wants to be a part of our community. 

The range, scale, and breadth of our membership is what makes AIM one of the UK’s leading heritage membership organisations, with a relevant and strong perspective in any room where museums are mentioned. Funders and partners work with AIM to support our members across the UK in order to reach the 20 million people a year who visit independent museums. Serving and representing these members and their huge audience is AIM’s important purpose and we work in an agile and responsive way to ensure our offer keeps up with the changing and challenging environment museums and heritage are operating in today. 

AIM continues to offer friendship and community to independent museums, their volunteers, leaders, and trustees, alongside professional advice, best practice, and an encouraging atmosphere in which to try things. At the same time we speak out loudly and persuasively on behalf of our membership so funders and decision-makers understand how to support them to bring even more of their crucial cultural, social, and economic benefits. 

The below table is a snapshot of our membership. 


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Membership category Jan 2026<br>Small Museum 769<br>Medium Museum 135<br>Large Museum 37<br>Largest Museum 40<br>Individual / MDO / Freelancer 80<br>Non-Prof Supp Org/Library/Arch 19<br>Associate Supplier 57<br>Grand Total 1137<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


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## AIM’s role and purpose 

AIM is here for _Helping Heritage Organisations Prosper_ . This delivers public benefit through promoting a more relevant, effective, and successful museums and heritage sector, well-governed and well-led. AIM occupies a unique position in the sector given our focus on independents and small museums – including non-Accredited museums, which otherwise receive limited public and sector support for their central positions in many communities across the UK far from national or city-based civic museums. 

Many of AIM’s members principally engage in the museums and heritage sector through their AIM membership. It is where they access best practice, engage in sector debate, and receive public support, utilising our Hallmarks of Prospering Museums framework. AIM’s access to small museums as well as representation of self-sufficient larger museums operating as successful attractions is why AIM works with decision-makers and funders from the public and philanthropic sectors of our four nations. 

These museums care for, celebrate, and display the pasts of local areas; support the communities of the present; and educate and inspire for the future. In a time of constrained public funding and social division independent museums occupy a crucial role because of that independence: reliant on their wits and their value to their visitors to keep afloat and proudly able to make the decisions that are right for their collections and communities. 

In fulfilling our role we look back to our origins. AIM began in 1976 and in 1977 was properly constituted to represent the interests of a booming independent museums sector. In the 1970s and 1980s new, thematic museums began to spring-up, driven by the enthusiasm of individuals and communities fascinated by the history on their doorstep, who decided to take things into their own hands and save it, resulting in an extraordinary blossoming of a new type of museum: the Independents; or, as we remind our members each year, as Sir Arthur Drew of the Standing Commission for Museums & Galleries famously put it, “the primordial slime of the museum world”. 

Now in 2026 our members especially value AIM’s grantmaking, networking opportunities, and advocacy. This has shaped the strategy that we are working under to 2028, which has as its three main pillars partnerships, community, and voice. On these pillars, through a foundation of improved organisational effectiveness and towards a strategic goal of growing our membership, we are working to bring together and expand resources to help our members thrive. 

## Public investment 

AIM is grateful to Arts Council England as both our key funder and a major strategic partner. We joined the National Portfolio in 2018 and remain in the current 2023-2028 portfolio as an Investment Principles Support Organisation. AIM received £310,439 in 2025/26, the highest level of support of museums-specific IPSOs and in the top ten of the forty-strong IPSO portfolio in terms of investment amount. This is around three-fifths of our unrestricted income, compared to around a fifth from membership income, and AIM is therefore reliant on this funding to operate with our current scale and member/museum-facing activity. The second extension year to March 2028 announced in 2025 helps consolidate our financial position and demonstrate that ACE funding our core costs enables us to leverage other support into the small and medium museums and independent museums that receive no or limited public funding. 

2025 also saw an extension to our successful Connected Communities grant programme, funded by ACE for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Know Your Neighbourhood programme. This enabled ten original recipients to continue their work on developing volunteering opportunities and tackling the risk of social isolation. Given the original fund’s strong focus on legacy they were able to quickly scale back up with new investment and benefit more participants in areas of social deprivation. 

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We also continued a useful research partnership with DCMS and ACE with work on museum operating models, Fragile to Flourishing, published in January 2026 to unprecedented interest from members and beyond. This landmark report provides the material for AIM to build on in 2026 and beyond and focuses on helping our members and the wider sector develop a solid footing for their organisations on which to build a sustainable future. 

AIM continues to have a strong relationship with the Welsh Government which supports provision of our activity in Wales, including our two long-running leadership programmes, Network for Resilience Wales and Rising Leaders for Wales. 

We continue to work with Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) on advocacy and museum support, launching a brief for a new partnership research project on small museums and place with MGS and Welsh Government at the end of 2025. 

In 2025 we completed our flagship New Stories, New Audiences programme generously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which supported over forty small museums to expand their reach with new interpretations. This programme was a key success for AIM with an evaluation showing significant long term outcomes for the organisations that took part with continued engagement with newly developed audiences and a sustained improvement to visitor figures for 56% of projects, and providing the testing ground for the scheme design we have now rolled out across several other programmes, combining grants with capacity-building mentoring and peer support. 

From the end of 2024 into 2026 we continue to receive NLHF investment through our phase three Heritage Innovation Fund project Safe Access, which is expanding development of a wellbeing framework for freelancers, visitors, staff, and volunteers engaging with sensitive collections and stories. 

## AIM’s Charitable Objects 

Helping Heritage Organisations Prosper is a shorter way of expressing AIM’s legal charitable objectives, which appear in the Articles of Association revised in 2020 as: 

(a) The objects for which the Company is established are the advancement of the educational and cultural facilities for the public benefit throughout the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man provided by independent museums, galleries, and heritage organisations.  In respect of this the Company defines independence as taking responsibility for your own decisions, being accountable for them, and for not being subject to another’s authority, nor dependent on another for your existence. 

(b) In furtherance of the above objects but not further or otherwise the Company shall achieve these objects through advocacy, representing Members’ best interests, sharing, and promoting best practice, innovation, and acumen, creating networks and connections, raising and distributing grants, developing policy, supporting skills and workforce development, promotion, and by providing support and advice for all museums and heritage organisations. 


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Port Lockroy<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


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## **Preparing for AIM’s future, preparing independent museums for theirs** 

Our value – and our public benefit – is realised by supporting museums and heritage organisations to deliver their public benefit; not only our thousand or so members but also the wider sector, including our grant recipients, other independents, and non-Accredited museums. As the UK’s largest grouping, independent museums are the backbone of the museums sector. For much of the public their nearest museum is a small independent and it is the public that keeps them going through volunteering, both in operations and trusteeship, and visiting. AIM’s function is to help them thrive: to run operations that are well-governed and well-led, know how to operate effectively and with relevance, and care for their collections. 

The focus for our member-facing activities helping museums flourish is on partnerships, community, and voice. 

## Partnerships 

Partnerships are essential to how AIM operates, maximising and enabling us to do more than our small team of eight people could do alone. The museums and heritage sectors have a complicated support landscape and AIM works best by focusing on doing what we do to a high standard and working with or signposting to other organisations where appropriate. 

Our key partnerships with policymakers, public funders, and development agencies are outlined above. AIM’s function for these partners is to support governance and leadership in the sector and to ensure support is available to small museums, independents, and non-Accredited museums. 

Our most important partners are our funders. Working together with funders allows us to maximise our support to meet their goals, often around supporting smaller museums. As well as our funding from the Arts Council we continued to partner with the Welsh Government, Pilgrim Trust, DCMS, and National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver services, grants, and capacity-building programmes to our members and the wider sector. 

In 2025 we added two new philanthropic partners. At the beginning of the year our funding from the Julia Rausing Trust came onstream, augmenting our Pilgrim Trust funding to create a new scheme, Museum Fundamentals. Focusing on the ‘back of house’ and core collections and conservations activities it can be difficult to find funding for, the two 2025 rounds of this fund were massively oversubscribed, showing the demand for this important work, and resulted in 25 projects across the UK. At the end of the year we were fortunate to be awarded unrestricted funding from the Swire Trust, which in 2026 will help to support our costs and our activities for members. 

In 2025 we worked with a freelancer to help develop our fundraising capacity and systems and into 2026 we will be aiming to expand this and bring in new partners. 

AIM continues to value deeply our relationships with other sector bodies, from the crossdiscipline stable of Investment Principles Support Organisations to other advocacy bodies and Museums Development. More widely we have worked with the Heritage Alliance, Libraries Connected and Creative Lives on Know Your Neighbourhood, and several heritage organisations with interests in our co-funded research on outdoor space to support our sectors in the round. 

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## Community 

Community is the heart of AIM. We are not just here as an organisation to face our members; we are here to build links between them. AIM is working on creating new networks through which they can access experience, inspiration, case studies and mutual support. 

Much of our support is online, enabling people to come together from distances, especially in an environment where the time and money to travel is tight. We have continued to run Hallmarks at Home, Trustees 101, the Spark! leadership programme, Wales leadership programmes, and capacitybuilding programmes for Connected Communities and Safe Access. 

Our core community activity continues to be AIM conference and in 2025 we enjoyed two bright and busy days at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with the Mary Rose Museum and National Museum of the Royal Navy hearing from a range of independent museum and associated speakers. With generous support from our host sponsors we welcomed over 230 delegates for two extremely valuable days of discussion, connection and reconnection, and ideas. At AIM conference we are always mindful that the cost is a major investment for the attendees and the goal of every session is to provide practical ideas and tools people can implement in their museum the following week. 

In 2026 we are piloting online sessions that are principally about network-building and conversation, rather than having a training purpose, identifying different segments of the AIM membership – for example museum subject, region, role, and common interests – who might want to come together more informally. 

## Voice 

Advocacy is an evergreen priority for AIM members. Our advocacy, alongside sector partners, was rewarded with major Westminster funding announcements in February 2025, at the summer Comprehensive Spending Review, and early in 2026 – including confirmation of several more years of the Museums Estates and Development Fund (MEND), a key advocacy priority for AIM in recent years as our member surveys have told us that this funding is still urgently needed by members. We have continued to work with the National Museum Directors’ Council in particular on business rates advocacy. With revenue and capital budgets set for the next few years we are exploring what members’ main advocacy needs are now, including in the context of elections in 2026 in Wales and Scotland, and following the late 2025 publication of the Hodge Review into the Arts Council. 

To support members in their own advocacy we released a small update to the economic impact toolkit, utilising the latest tourism figures, and released top-level findings from a short, sharp research piece with the Art Fund and NMDC on museums’ role in the creative industries. 

We also released an innovative new research report on how museums and heritage organisations manage their outdoor spaces, looking at this practice across the sector for the first time, and providing potential new avenues for partnerships and cross-sector learning. 

The AIM Bulletin continued its regular pace of six issues a year full of thought pieces, sector updates, and member highlights, with eNews reaching over 4,000 subscribers weekly and the December 2024 relaunch of our website welcoming an increased number of visitors in the year. We experimented with audio/podcast formats to hear from members, hosted on the new website, accompanying video content including trialling video versions of Success Guides for the two that emerged from Connected Communities, on volunteering and loneliness. 


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Tours at Urshaw<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


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## **Programmes** 

## **AIM Higher** 

received AIM Higher consultancies. We prioritised museums needing emergency help. 

**“AIM Higher’s bespoke approach pairs your board with an experienced consultant of your choice who brings an outside voice of friendly challenge and a fantastically helpful, expert sounding board to help you think differently about the choices you have.”** 

**“Thank you for being there for museums like ours.”** 

**“It is always worthwhile having an overview of what, how and why you are doing something ... At times the answers are right in front of you, but you need a fresh pair of eyes to see them.”** 

## **Welsh Government programme April 2024-March 2025** 


## **Spark!** 

## **14 participants** 

Ran from October 2025 to January 26 


4 AIM Higher consultancies 

**“Based on the structured, insightful, and collaborative approach we experienced, we would recommend AIM Higher to other museums seeking to clarify their purpose, reflect on financial challenges, and build organisational resilience.”** 

**“The support was available just at the right time.”** 

**“The most valuable experience received plus a wonderful learning opportunity and guidance.“** 

**“As a volunteer run small community museum, this expertise is invaluable for our continuation and resilience.”** 

## **AIM Aspire** 

## **9 participants** 

**“As a museum director, it is a lonely old business and although the profession is very supportive, it is a rare thing to have someone very experienced and knowledgeable who is just listening to you and responding  to your needs and with whom you can be completely open and honest about the challenges and issues you are facing. And to come out with practical, realist and achievable actions!”** 

**“I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity and for matching me with Julie – a perfect match“** 



**727,453 285 Distributed Applications** 

**98 Awarded** 

## **Vital Grants** 

**In 2025 AIM awarded grants worth nearly three quarters of a million pounds. The team processed an additional 50+ applications over the year, with 285 received in 2025 compared to 231 in 2024. Last year, circa 100 organisations benefitted from grant funding from AIM.** 

## **Training grants** 

## **AIM Conference bursaries** 

**11 £3,300 18** 


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12 £4,010 16<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


**Conservation Audits** 

## **Connected Communities grants** 

**17 £20,400 37** 

**9 £388,530 9** via invitation 


## **Wales Contactless Donations Grant** 


**24** 

**"Thanks to AIM’s support, we were able to install contactless donation devices without placing any strain on our operational funds. This has allowed us to test and implement a new income stream that we simply could not access before.** 

**Financially, this has helped to diversify our income, reduce reliance on cash handling, and improve efficiency in processing donations. The funding has not only supported immediate budget relief but has also provided a sustainable tool for increasing future revenue and strengthening Greenfield Valley’s financial resilience."** 

Sarah Preston, Countryside and Access Awareness Officer – Visitor Experience lead at Greenfield Valley 

**“We have been considering installing a single contactless payment device during the last three years but lacked information on equipment available and costs involved. The grant procedure motivated us to talk with and investigate systems purchased by similar sized organisations.** 

**The grant offer was forward thinking in recognising the needs of volunteer organisations such as our preserving the heritage of our town and locality that can often only be achieved by volunteer organisations loyal to their locality."** 



**98 727,453 285** 

**Distributed Applications** 

## **Grants** 

**Awarded** 

## **Museum Fundamentals** 

**25 £256,138 180** 

**“This grant has helped us meet several of our needs in our journey towards applying for Museum Accreditation (planned for early 2026). having Grant Mackenzie as our mentor was a real highlight of the process and I believe contributed greatly to our success. His support and encouragement in regards to the more hands-on side of the project was very much needed. He also generously shared his knowledge on accreditation and was able to foster several connections between us and other accreditation and conservation specialists that were instrumental in helping the Collections Development Manager complete our Collection Management policies, which were approved by the Edinburgh Printmakers Board in October, bringing us closer than ever to our accreditation application.”** 

Dr Meg Dolan, Collections Development Manager, Edinburgh Printmakers 


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The Brickworks Museum<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>



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Edinburgh Printmakers<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **Pilgrim Trust Collection Care Audit Grant** 

**“The process of application was very straightforward and the support we received from AIM exemplary. Having the input of a skilled conservator enabled us to effectively carry out ‘an MOT’ on our collection. It highlighted our weaknesses in cataloguing and care; this gave us a baseline from which we can plan the work that needs to be undertaken in the coming months."** Sheila Childerhouse, Chairperson, Charles Burrell Museum 

**“The AIM Pilgrim Trust Collections Care Audit has been a great benefit to the museum. Applying for the grant was straightforward, and we have been well supported by AIM throughout. The grant enabled us to have a registered conservator visit the museum and write a thorough report. There are also recommendations in the report that we have already managed to act upon with the resources available to us. This is a morale boost for staff and volunteers.  The legacy for the museum is a collection that is better documented, cared for more appropriately, and more accessible to all.”** Mary Flinn, Collections Manager, The Brickworks Museum 



## **Events** 

## **Conference** 




## **Hallmarks at Home** 

## **Rising Leaders** 

## **NRW** 

262 people | 16 sessions 

Sessions including, MGETR, AIM grants, Turnaround and Closure, and follow on from Connected Communities. 

## **Wales sessions** 

2 sessions delivered for Wales 

## **Setting up a new museum** 

13 people | 2 sessions 

22 people | 1 course 

9 people | 1 residential 


## **Spark!** 

## **Trustee 101** 

13 participants | 1 round 

92 people | 4 online sessions 

100% said **"The programme gave me practical advice I can apply to my museum"** 

## **Trustee Induction** 

**"Despite never meeting in person the course was so well facilitated the relationships built felt far more meaningful than any created on any sort of online training i've attended in the past"** 

20 people | 4 sessions 



## How we operate 

AIM continues tirelessly to improve how we ourselves work to support our members more costeffectively and efficiently. In 2025 we introduced a new Office and Grants Administrator role to smooth and streamline a number of corporate functions and free up senior staff time for priorities including fundraising. Kate attended her first AIM conference shortly after joining the team in May and is enjoying getting to know AIM’s members and the museums and heritage sectors. 

With the appointment of a finance-qualified trustee we have turned additional attention onto our financial processes and procedures, providing greater assurance on our accounting. The membership database introduced in 2024 is operating well and as we move into 2026 we are better utilising data and insight on our membership performance and trends as well as on what members need and want from us, ensuring our funds are spent where they have most impact. 

In 2020 AIM published an anti-racism action plan. During 2025 we carried out an internal diversity audit with the team and Board aimed at assessing and planning to improve our anti-racist practice and embed it into every aspect of how AIM works. During 2026 the membership will start to hear more about progress in this area. 

## Looking ahead 

In 2026 AIM is laying the groundwork for our fiftieth anniversary in 2027. This will be an opportunity to put the focus on the last five decades of independent museums and the community they decided to build, to represent themselves and to come together over common interests and challenges, fifty years ago. We are preparing for a celebratory year setting the scene for an influential conversation with our members, funders, and the sector about the next fifty years of independent museums. 

In 2026 AIM’s focus will be on new programmes and grant opportunities for museums to engage in. Museum Fundamentals is serving museums well but it continues to be significantly oversubscribed, showing both the appetite for this and other kinds of funding and how valued AIM is as a grantmaker that understands how to be accessible and get money to the places it will best be spent for audience impact and collections care whether or not they are experienced at funding applications. We will be fundraising for this work and continuing to steward our relationships with philanthropic trusts and foundations and public funders, as well as raising our profile and reputation to attract new relationships. To do this we will continue building on our growing reputation for robust, creative, and useful research, with new projects in progress in 2026. 

AIM will continue supporting museums at risk – unfortunately a growing category, with some highprofile announcements and actual closures towards the end of 2025 and coming into 2026. AIM can provide targeted interventions via AIM Higher and come together with other sector support organisations around an organisation at risk to provide holistic support. Most importantly, we can help staff and volunteers find peer support at this most difficult of times for a museum. 

This theme of community will be central to 2026 and 2027. We are introducing new ways for different groupings and segments of members to come together and share ideas, lessons learned, and sympathy where called for. Over the coming years we will help build and expand our members’ networks to the rest of the sector and to one another. As a member organisation, this is where our strength for the next fifty years lies – as well as our differentiation from other support organisations. 

The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre 

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## A note on charitable reporting 

As a charity, the Trustees recognise their legal duty to report on the Association’s public benefit in their Annual Report, as part of a requirement – given particular emphasis by the Charities Act 2011 – to clearly demonstrate that the Objects of the charity are for the public benefit, demonstrating the Trustees’ recognition that being a registered charity is a privilege, not a right.  In setting out in this Annual Report how the charity currently meets this requirement and plans to in the future, the Trustees assert that the charity is compliant with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011, having due regard for the public guidance published by the Charity Commission. 

The Trustees acknowledge and accept that there exists a kind of covenant between charities and society: charities bring public benefit and, in their turn, are accorded high levels of trust and confidence, as well as the benefits of charitable status.  AIM continues to welcome an explicit reporting of public benefit and how it is aligned with the Objects of the Charity and believes that this will help maintain and grow public trust in the activities of the charitable sector, not least the charitable activities of the Association of Independent Museums. Part of AIM’s focus on supporting and improving governance in independent museums and heritage is to ensure that our members and the wider cultural sector also understand and are committed to delivering public benefit and transparently demonstrating this. 


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Broadway Museum & Art Gallery<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


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MUSEUM OFFICES
Statement
of Trustees,
Responsibilities

## Governing Document 

The Association of Independent Museums (AIM) is a company limited by guarantee, without share capital and governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 1 February 1978, as amended by resolution at the AGM on 14 June 2012 and Extraordinary General Meeting on 10 December 2020. None of the model articles in the Companies (Model Articles) Regulations 2008 applies to the company. The company was registered as a charity on 30 August 2000. The Objects of the Charity are set out in this report. Throughout this Annual report the company is referred to as ‘the Charity, Association or AIM’. 

## Trustees / Directors 

The trustees of AIM for the purposes of charity law are also its directors for the purposes of company law, and throughout this report are collectively referred to as ‘the Trustees’. Those Trustees who served on what is now called the Board (previously the Council) during the period of this review were: 

|Trustee|First Appointed|
|---|---|
|Christine Bernath|15 June 2023|
|Sajida Carr|21 June 2021|
|Mhairi Cross|19 April 2018|
|Laura Crossley|15 June 2023|
|Phil Dolling|15 June 2023|
|Sarah Duthie|21 June 2021|
|Rhiannon Goddard|19 April 2018|
|Nathaniel Hepburn|6 May 2021|
|Emily Frankish|6 May 2021|
|Charlotte Morgan|16 June 2022|
|Elizabeth (Liz) Power|16 June 2022|
|Alexander Ratcliffe|15 June 2023|
|Angela Spreadbury|18 June 2025|
|Camilla Stewart|16 June 2022|



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## Recruitment, Appointment and Onboarding of Trustees 

Trustees are openly recruited from a broad range of backgrounds, with a focus on interest in and experience of different aspects of independent heritage and the skills to support AIM’s strategic work. Vacancies are advertised on the AIM website and in the AIM Bulletin, social media channels and e-news to ensure a wide coverage across the UK. 

The Trustees of the Association are supplied with induction information on joining and further guidance and training notes as required. Trustees are kept up to date with reports, briefings, social media channels and sector newsletters about relevant issues, best practice and developments affecting the museums and cultural sectors, as well as changes to charity and/or company regulation. The Board self-reflects on its effectiveness as the Association’s governing body through regular meetings, including dedicated annual awaydays. 

The Trustees are aware of the Charity Governance Code and Charity Acts 2011 and 2022 and discuss implications both for their own work as in AIM’s role as an exemplar of governance for the museums sector. 

The Board works to ensure compliance with its legal duties to: 

(i) Act in the interests of the charity and its beneficiaries. 

(ii) Protect and safeguard the assets of the charity. 

(iii) Act with reasonable care and skill. 

(iv) Ensure the charity is accountable. 

In addition, the Board recognises the need for and takes steps to: 

(i) Deal with conflicts of interest. 

(ii) Implement appropriate financial controls. 

(iii) Manage risk. 

(iv) Take appropriate advice when it needs to. 

21 



## Governance Structure 

The Trustees met five times during 2025, as the Board (non-executive) of the Association of Independent Museums, to consider strategic matters, monitor financial progress and performance against forecasts, consider policy and other significant developments and to monitor organisational risks. Three meetings including an awayday were held in person and two online. 

The Charity held its AGM on 18 June 2025 as part of the National Conference in Portsmouth. Members of the Board are drawn from, and elected by, the membership at General Meetings, serving a maximum of three terms of three years. The Board thereafter elects from their number (at its discretion) the Officers, including a Chair, with the Deputy Chair(s) elected by the membership. In 2025 no Board members stepped down; one Board member returned from and another went on a period of maternity leave. One was appointed, three were re-appointed for their second term, two were elected Deputy Chair at AGM. 

In 2025 the Board refreshed the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, with this committee acting to give greater scrutiny with the arrival of a finance specialist trustee. Membership of this committee shifted over the course of the year, ending with three active members. The Museum Fundamentals grants had an awarding panel chaired by an AIM Board member and a Board member oversaw the allocation of training grants. 

AIM’s Director (the organisation’s most senior member of staff) manages and develops AIM with his/ her staff and is accountable and reports to the Board. Together with the Trustees, the Director, Head of Communications, and Head of Programmes are considered the Key Management Personnel, as defined by Financial Reporting Standard 102. The Director is not a member of the Board but attends at the invitation of the Board. 

## Reserves Policy 

The reserves policy is reviewed annually by the Board. In early 2025 the Trustees agreed that AIM should hold a general, free cash reserve of at least six months of payroll and operating costs, which amounts to around £240,000 for 2026. At 31 December 2025 the level of unrestricted funds was in excess of this at £262,753. The Board reviewed this in December 2025 and agreed to retain the six months’ costs level. 

## Environmental Impact update 

As part of our ACE funding AIM continues to work to an environmental responsibility policy and action plan, overseen by Julie’s Bicycle, a specialist environmental organisation appointed by Arts Council England to support their National Portfolio Organisations. 

## Remuneration Policy, Employment and Casual Contracts 

Board members do not receive any remuneration. Expenses incurred as part of the role e.g. to attend in-person Board meetings can be paid. 

The pay and remuneration of key management personnel are set by the Director (for senior staff) and the Board (for the Director). In recent years, including January 2025, the Board agreed a cost of living increase for all staff other than the Director, whose salary for 2024 and 2025 was set by a delegated group of trustees in summer 2024. 

AIM does not currently offer casual employment. AIM contracts with a number of freelancers for both programme support, to add capacity to the full-time staff, and to deliver our support, particularly providing specialist expertise in a range of charity, operational, governance and museum fields for our grant support, training and development, and consultancies. 

22 



## Trustee Indemnity 

## Professional liability insurance of £1m is in place. 

## Risk Management and Uncertainties 

Trustees regularly review the principal risks facing AIM, including as part of monitoring for Arts Council public funding. In 2025 this was part of the role of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, which reported to the full Board. AIM’s approach to risk management is to focus on tracking a small number of AIM-specific risks that we are actively and continuously working on mitigating. 

The key risk as in previous years was the potential loss of Arts Council funding, given the level to which this subsidises core running costs. This risk was reduced in-year by the announcement the current Portfolio would be extended for a further (fifth) year to the end of March 2028. We are continuing to manage this risk by seeking new philanthropic sources of funding and in due course expect to review the possible scope of income generating activities. 

Another key risk is member loss, which we are mitigating by seeking regular feedback from members and ensuring we are directing our resources towards the activities and services that mean the most to them. Other risks include reputational risk based on positions taken by AIM within the sector or from activities of members. It is important to maintain close links to members to understand their views and ensure we are representing them well. Operational risks include fraud and cybercrime. 

## Investment Policy 

The Association, when able to do so, takes advantage of short/medium-term cash flow surpluses by placing funds with regulated financial institutions approved by the Board. It is not the policy of the Association to delegate investment management to an agent of the Charity. In making any investment decisions, including those related to permanent endowment, the Board has due regard to Charity Commission guidance, investment of Charitable Funds: Basic Principles, the Charities Act 2011, and the Trustee Act 2000. 

## Fundraising Policy 

The charity has no fundraising activities requiring disclosure under Section 162A of the Charities Act 2011. 

## Financial Review 

The financial activities of the Association for the year under review and the financial position at the Balance Sheet date are set out in the Accounts. The Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) is set out at page 31 and includes both unrestricted and restricted funds. The Board is satisfied with the financial position of the Association. 

Unrestricted funds come chiefly from subscription fees from the membership. There is also unrestricted income from advertising in the AIM Bulletin and from the trade show and sponsorship at the annual AIM Conference, as well as sponsorship of other events and programmes. The annual grant from Arts Council England is also unrestricted. 

Restricted funds have been provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Welsh Government, and the Julia Rausing Trust. The Net Worth at 31 December 2025 stands at £683,185 (2024: £643,975 ). Restricted Funds stand at £420,432 (2024: £401,470, and Unrestricted Funds at £262,753 (2024: £242,505). 

23 



## Statement of trustees’ responsibilities 

The Trustees (who are also Directors of the Association of Independent Museums for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to: 

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; 

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; 

- make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website.  Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

## Disclosure of Information to Auditor 

Each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this Trustees' Report is approved has confirmed that: 

- so far as that Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware, and 

- that Trustee has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a Trustee in order to be aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company's auditors are aware of that information. 

On behalf of the Trustees 

**Rhiannon Goddard              Dated: 11 May 2026** Chair 


24 



Iql
Independent
Auditor's Report

**Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Association of Independent Museums** 

## Opinion 

We have audited the financial statements of Association of Independent Museums for the year ended 31 December 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cashflows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

In our opinion the financial statements: 

- give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 December 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended; 

- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and 

- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. 

## Basis for opinion 

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 

## Conclusions relating to going concern 

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. 

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. 

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. 

## Other information 

The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. 

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or 

26 



Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Association of Independent Museums 

apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. 

We have nothing to report in this regard. 

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 

In our opinion based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit 

- the information given in the trustees’ report, which includes the directors’ report and the strategic report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and 

- the strategic report and the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. 

## Matters on which we are required to report by exception 

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report. 

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: 

- adequate accounting records have not been kept; or 

- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 

- certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or 

- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit 

## Responsibilities of trustees 

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 27, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

## Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements 

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. 

Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. 

27 



Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Association of Independent Museums 

Details of the extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations are set out below. 

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report. 

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error, and discussed these between our audit team members. We then designed and performed audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charitable company operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, including financial reporting legislation and the Charities SORP (FRS 102), and local tax regulations. We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items. 

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be necessary to the charitable company’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. 

We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charitable company for fraud. We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the timing of recognition of grant income and management override of controls. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management and the Trustees about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting of journals, reviewing regulatory correspondence with the Charity Commission, sample testing grant agreements, and reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance. 

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. 

In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations. 

28 



Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Association of Independent Museums 

## Use of our report 

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 


**Helen Blundell LLB FCA FCIE DchA** Senior Statutory Auditor 

For and on behalf of 

**Crowe U.K. LLP** Statutory Auditor Black Country House, Rounds Green Road, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 2DG 

13 May 2026 

29 




**Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow** 



Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 December 2025 

|**Income from:**<br>Charitable activities<br>Investments<br>Other income<br>**Total income**<br>**Expenditure on:**<br>Charitable activities<br>**Total expenditure**<br>Net gains / (losses) on investments<br>**Net income / (expenditure)**<br>Transfer between funds<br>**Net movement of funds**<br>**Reconciliation of funds**<br>Total funds brought forward<br>**Total funds carried forward**<br>**Notes**<br>**2**<br>**3**<br>**4**<br>**5**<br>**17**<br>**17**<br>**17**|**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>572,839<br>3,026<br>8,729<br>**584,594**<br>564,346<br>**564,346**<br>**-**<br>**20,248**<br>**-**<br>**20,248**<br>242,505<br>**262,753**<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>1,047,061<br>-<br>-<br>**1,047,061**<br>1,028,099<br>**1,028,099**<br>**-**<br>**18,962**<br>**-**<br>18,962<br>401,470<br>**420,432**<br>**Total Funds**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>**1,619,900**<br>**3,026**<br>**8,729**<br>**1,631,655**<br>**1,592,445**<br>**1,592,445**<br>**-**<br>**39,210**<br>**-**<br>**39,210**<br>**643,975**<br>**683,185**<br>**Total Funds**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>1,119,885<br>3,569<br>8,861<br>1,132,315<br>1,560,766<br>1,560,766<br>-<br>(428,451)<br>-<br>(428,451)<br>1,072,425<br>643,975|
|---|---|



The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities. 

31 



Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2025 

|**Current Assets**<br>Cash at Bank and in Hand<br>Debtors<br>**Creditors**<br>Amounts falling due with one year<br>**Net Current Assets**<br>**Total Assets Less Current Liabilities**<br>**Funds**<br>Restricted funds<br>Unrestricted funds<br>**Total Funds**<br>**Notes**<br>**12**<br>**13**<br>**14**<br>**17**<br>**17**|**2025**<br>**£**<br>632,951<br>174,746<br>**807,697**<br>(124,512)<br>**683,185**<br>**683,185**<br>420,432<br>262,753<br>**683,185**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>550,345<br>248,062<br>798,407<br>(154,432)<br>**643,975**<br>**643,975**<br>401,470<br>242,505<br>**643,975**|
|---|---|



These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies act 2006 relating small companies. 

These accounts were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 11 May 2026 and signed on their behalf by: 


## **Rhiannon Goddard** 

Chair 

The notes on pages 35-43 form part of these financial statements. 

32 



## Cashflow Statement for the year ended 31 December 2025 

|**Cash fows from operating activities**<br>Net cash used in operating activities<br>**Cash fows from investing activities**<br>Dividends, interests, and rents from investments<br>**Net cash fow from investing activities**<br>**Net increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents**<br>Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year<br>**Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year**<br>**Cash and cash equivalents consists of:**<br>Cash in hand and at bank<br>**Total cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 2025**|**2025**<br>**£**<br>**79,580**<br>3,026<br>**3,026**<br>82,606<br>550,345<br>**632,951**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>632,951<br>**632,951**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>**(37,967)**<br>3,569<br>**3,569**<br>(34,398)<br>584,742<br>**550,345**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>550,345<br>**550,345**|
|---|---|



**Reconciliation of net income/(expenditure) to net cash fow from operating activities** 

|Net income/(expenditure) for year (as per Statement of Financial Activities)<br>**Adjustments for:**<br>Dividends, interests, and rents from investments<br>(Increase)/decrease in debtors<br>(Decrease)/increase in creditors<br>**Net cash fow from operating activities**|**2025**<br>**£**<br>39,210<br>(3,026)<br>73,420<br>(30,024)<br>**79,580**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>(428,451)<br>(3,569)<br>317,665<br>76,388<br>**(37,967)**|
|---|---|



33 



Notes to
the Accounts

## Association of Independent Museums 

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

## 1) Accounting Policies 

## General Information 

The Association of Independent Museums is a company limited by guarantee (registered number 1350939), which is registered and incorporated in England and Wales. The Association is also registered with the Charity Commission under registration number 1082215. The registered office is AIM office, National Waterways Museum, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 4FW. The principal place of business is AIM office, National Waterways Museum, South Pier Road Ellesmere Port, CH65 4FW. 

## Basis of Preparation 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) – Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. 

Association of Independent Museums meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy 

## Fund accounting 

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Association and which have not been designated for other purposes. 

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Association for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes of the financial statements. 

## Income 

All income is recognised once the Association has an entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably. Income in respect of members’ subscriptions, publications, seminars, and events are recognised in the period to which it relates. 

Grants are included in the Statement of financial activities on a receivable basis. The balance of income received for specific purposes but not expended during the period is shown in the relevant funds on the Balance Sheet.. Where income is received in advance of entitlement of receipt, its recognition is deferred and included in creditors as deferred income. Where entitlement occurs before income is received, the income is accrued. 

Donations are credited to the Statement of Financial Activities when received. 

35 



## Association of Independent Museums 

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

## Expenditure 

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. 

All expenditure is accounted for on an accrual basis. All expenses including support costs and governance costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure headings. 

Support costs are those costs directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity. Governance costs are those costs incurred in connection with the administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements. 

Expenditure on assets of over £500 or associated groups of assets over £700 will be capitalised. 

Grants payable are charged in the year when the offer is made except in those cases where the offer is conditional, such grants being recognised as expenditure when the conditions attaching are fulfilled. Grants offered subject to conditions that have not been met at the year-end are noted as commitment, but not accrued as expenditure. 

## Financial instruments 

The Association only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value. 

## Debtors 

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. 

## Liabilities and provisions 

Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the Association anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide. 

Provisions are measured at the best estimate of the amounts required to settle the obligation. 

36 



Association of Independent Museums Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

## 2) Income from charitable activities 

|3) Investment income<br>Grants<br>Membership<br>Members support<br>Interest|**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>1,047,061<br>-<br>-<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>367,105<br>113,282<br>92,452<br>**Total**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>**1,414,166**<br>**113,282**<br>**92,452**<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>309,685<br>109,545<br>75,618<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>623,696<br>-<br>1,341<br>**Total**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>**933,381**<br>**109,545**<br>**76,959**|
|---|---|
||**1,047,061**<br>**572,839**<br>**1,619,900**<br>**494,848**<br>**625,037**<br>**1,119,885**|
||**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>-<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>3,026<br>**Total**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>**3,026**<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>3,569<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>-<br>**Total**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>**3,569**|
||-<br>**3,026**<br>**3,026**<br>**3,569**<br>-<br>**3,569**|



## 4) Other incoming resources 

|Energy Commission<br>Publishers licensing revenue|**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>-<br>-<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>2,105<br>6,624<br>**Total**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>**2,105**<br>**6,624**<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>3,673<br>5,188<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>-<br>-<br>**Total**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>**3,673**<br>**5,188**|
|---|---|
||-<br>**8,729**<br>**8,729**<br>**8,861**<br>-<br>**8,861**|



37 



Association of Independent Museums Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

## 5) Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities 

|Grants distributed<br>Members Support<br>Grants distributed<br>Members Support|**Support**<br>**costs**<br>**£**<br> -<br>81,388<br>**Direct**<br>**costs**<br>**£**<br>721,039<br>790,018<br>**2025**<br>**Total**<br>**£**<br>**721,039**<br>**871,406**<br>**Restated**<br>**Direct Costs**<br>**£**<br>683,580<br>789,722<br>**Restated**<br>**Support costs**<br>**£**<br>**-**<br>**87,464**<br>**Restated**<br>**2024 Total**<br>**£**<br>**683,580**<br>**877,186**|
|---|---|
||**81,388**<br>**1,511,057**<br>**1,592,445**<br>**1,473,302**<br>**87,464**<br>**1,560,766**|
||**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>716,973<br>311,126<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>4,066<br>560,280<br>**Total**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>**721,039**<br>**871,406**<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>6,847<br>547,826<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>676,733<br>329,360<br>**Total**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>**683,580**<br>**877,186**|
||**1,028,099**<br>**564,346**<br>**1,592,445**<br>**554,673**<br>**1,006,093**<br>**1,560,766**|



The comparative figures have been restated to reflect changes in the classification of costs between Direct Costs and Support Costs. This reclassification ensures consistency with the current year presentation, following changes in the Charity’s activities. 

## 6) Analysis of expenditure by activities 

|**Members support**<br>AIM National conference<br>Staff costs<br>Member communications<br>Member offer<br>Sector support<br>Other Staff Costs|**2025**<br>**Total**<br>**£**<br>**63,870**<br>**341,882**<br>**35,720**<br>**240,697**<br>**80,423**<br>**27,426**<br>**Restated**<br>**2024**<br>**Total**<br>**£**<br>33,478<br>302,116<br>35,007<br>342,454<br>41,462<br>35,205|
|---|---|
||**790,018**<br>**789,644**|



The comparative figures have been restated to reflect changes in the classification of costs between Direct Costs and Support Costs. This reclassification ensures consistency with the current year presentation, following changes in the Charity’s activities. 

38 



## Association of Independent Museums 

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

## 7) Analysis of support costs expenditure 

|Support costs<br>IT Costs<br>Offce Costs<br>Finance and HR Costs<br>Subscription and membership fees<br>Bank Costs<br>Governance|**2025**<br>**£**<br>4,751<br>18,581<br>37,430<br>1,130<br>146<br>19,350<br>**Restated**<br>**2024 Total**<br>**£**<br>4,523<br>28,768<br>40,261<br>-<br>478<br>13,434|
|---|---|
||**81,388**<br>**87,464**|



The comparative figures have been restated to reflect changes in the classification of costs between Direct Costs and Support Costs. This reclassification ensures consistency with the current year presentation, following changes in the Charity’s activities. 

## 8) Governance Cost 

|AGM and board meeting costs<br>Trustee Expenses etc<br>Audit fees|**2025**<br>**£**<br>1,040<br>7,890<br>10,420<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>1,056<br>877<br>11,501|
|---|---|
||**19,350**<br>**13,434**|
|||
|9) Auditor’s remuneration<br>Auditors’ remuneration<br>Audit|**2025**<br>**£**<br>**10,200**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>9,600|
||**10,200**<br>9,600|



## 10) Staff costs 

|Salaries and wages<br>Social security costs<br>Employer’s contribution to defned contribution pension schemes<br>Staff Training and development|**2025**<br>**£**<br>**298,418**<br>**26,718**<br>**14,087**<br>**2,930**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>268,175<br>23,221<br>10,720<br>727|
|---|---|
||**342,153**<br>**302,843**|



39 



Association of Independent Museums Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

## Staff numbers 

**The average number of employees (headcount based on the number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:** 

|**2025**|**2024**|
|---|---|
|**No.**|**No.**|
|**8**|7|



## Staff 

|Staff|||
|---|---|---|
|**The number of employees who received total employee benefts of more than £60,000, is as follows:**|||
||**2025**|**2024**|
||**No.**|**No.**|
||**-**|1|
|£60,000 - £69,999|**1**|-|
|£70,000 - £79,999|||



The total employment benefits, including employer pension contributions, of the key management personnel was £191,651 (2024: £184,147). 

11) Trustees’ remuneration and expenses 

During the year no Trustees received any remuneration or other benefits (2024; £nil) 

During the year ended expenses totalling £3,068. (2024; £4,488) were reimbursed or paid directly to 12 (2024:9) Trustees. The expenses reimbursed were in relation to travel and subsistence costs. 

Hotel costs of £4,080 were paid relating to trustee attendance at conference. 

The Charity pays an insurance premium to indemnify trustees from any loss arising from the neglect or defaults of directors and officers, the policy covers the trustees up to £1,000,000 

40 



Association of Independent Museums Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

## 12) Cash and cash equivalents 

|12) Cash and cash equivalents||
|---|---|
|Cash in hand|**2025**<br>**£**<br>**632,951**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>550,345|
||**632,951**<br>550,345|
|||
|13) Debtors<br>Trade Debtors<br>Other taxation and social security<br>Prepayments and accrued income|**2025**<br>**£**<br>**15,280**<br>**-**<br>**159,466**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>20,488<br>1,054<br>226,520|
||**174,746**<br>248,062|
|||
|14) Creditors: Falling due within one year<br>Trade creditors<br>Other creditors<br>Accruals and deferred income|**2025**<br>**£**<br>**12,931**<br>**2,614**<br>**108,967**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>96,610<br>1,928<br>55,894|
||**124,512**<br>154,432|



## 15) Deferred income 

|Balance at the beginning of the year<br>Amount released to income in the year<br>Amount deferred in the year<br>Balance at the end of the year|**2025**<br>**£**<br>**33,662**<br>**(33,662)**<br>**39,722**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>26,364<br>(26,364)<br>33,662|
|---|---|
||**39,722**<br>33,662|



## 16) Taxation 

The company, as a registered charity, is not liable for Income Tax or Corporation Tax because its income falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities. 

41 



## Association of Independent Museums 

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

|**Restricted Funds**<br>Pilgrim Trust grants and workshops<br>Welsh Gov't projects & grants<br>National Lottery Heritage Fund<br>DCMS ACE Know Your Neighbourhood<br>Safe Access<br>Julia Rausing Trust<br>Wales Contactless<br>**Total restricted funds**<br>**Unrestricted funds**<br>General funds<br>**Total unrestricted funds**<br>**Total Funds**<br>17) Statement of funds|**At 1 January**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>51,851<br>46,338<br>(1,147)<br>309,775<br>(5,347)<br>-<br>-<br>**Income**<br>**£**<br>220,662<br>40,315<br>86,551<br>318,194<br>127,664<br>200,000<br>53,675<br>**Expenditure**<br>**£**<br>(136,684)<br>(46,818)<br>(85,404)<br>(546,961)<br>(76,304)<br>(105,890)<br>(30,038)<br>**Transfers**<br>**£**<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>**At 31**<br>**December**<br>**2025**<br>**£**<br>**135,829**<br>**39,835**<br>**-**<br>**81,008**<br>**46,013**<br>**94,110**<br>**23,637**|
|---|---|
||**401,470**<br>**1,047,061**<br>**(1,028,099)**<br>**-**<br>**420,432**|
||242,505<br>584,594<br>**(564,346)**<br>**-**<br>**262,753**|
||**242,505**<br>**584,594**<br>**(564,346)**<br>**-**<br>**262,753**|
|||
||**643,975**<br>**1,631,655**<br>**(1,592,445)**<br>**-**<br>**683,185**|



## **Restricted purpose funding** 

**Pilgrim Trust Grants and Workshops** - Support to small and medium sized museums in looking after and conserving their collections, through grants and workshops. Funded by the Pilgrim Trust. 

**Welsh Government Projects and Grants** – Continuing funding enabling AIM to support museums in Wales with governance through the AIM Higher programme, translating resources into Welsh, and support for museums leaders through the Network for Resilience in Wales and a new Rising Leaders programme. 

**National Lottery Heritage Fund New Stories New Audiences:** Grants to support small museums to increase and widen their audiences to enhance their sustainability, and to widen participation to groups that are currently under-represented. Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

**DCMS ACE Know Your Neighbourhood:** Connected Communities is funded by UK Government Know Your Neighbourhood Fund through Arts Council England and supports museums in specified areas in England to carry out projects improving social capital through high-quality volunteering opportunities and projects tackling the risk of loneliness. 

**Safe Access:** funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund Heritage Innovation Programme, this project was taken on from a closing organisation during 2024 and is creating ways for museums to support freelancers and others from minoritised backgrounds dealing with sensitive or difficult collections and topics. 

**Julia Rausing Trust:** in late 2024 the Julia Rausing Trust awarded AIM £200,000 annually for three years to support our members. We have joined this funding to some of our Pilgrim funding to create Museum Fundamentals, a new scheme supporting collections and back of house work in small and medium museums. 

**Wales Contactless:** in 2025/26 we are delivering a one-off programme funded by the Welsh Government to support museums in Wales to install contactless donation boxes. This included refreshing our guidance on how best to utilise these boxes and translation to Welsh, as well as grants to museums to acquire the boxes and start using them to increase donations. 

42 



## Association of Independent Museums 

## Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 

|**Prior Year**<br>**Restricted Funds**<br>Pilgrim Trust grants and workshops<br>Welsh Gov't projects & grants<br>National Lottery Heritage Fund<br>AIM & Arts Scholars Charitable Trust<br>Brighter Day<br>DCMS ACE Know Your Neighbourhood<br>Safe Access<br>**Total restricted funds**<br>**Unrestricted funds**<br>General funds<br>**Total unrestricted funds**<br>**Total Funds**<br>**At 1 January**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>72,788<br>25,837<br>15,129<br>5,034<br>663,737<br>-<br>**782,525**<br>289,900<br>**289,900**<br>**1,072,425**<br>**Income**<br>**£**<br>117,602<br>157,586<br>252,475<br>30,000<br>-<br>67,374<br>**625,037**<br>507,278<br>**507,278**<br>**1,132,315**<br>18) Analysis of net assets between funds<br>Fund balances at**31 December 2025**are represented by:<br>Current assets<br>Creditors due with one year<br>**Prior Year**<br>Fund balances at**31 December 2024**are represented by:<br>Current assets<br>Creditors due with one year|**At 1 January**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>72,788<br>25,837<br>15,129<br>5,034<br>663,737<br>-<br>**Income**<br>**£**<br>117,602<br>157,586<br>252,475<br>30,000<br>-<br>67,374|**Expenditure**<br>**£**<br>(138,539)<br>(137,085)<br>(268,751)<br>(35,034)<br>(353,962)<br>(72,721)<br>**Transfers**<br>**£**<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>**At 31**<br>**December**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>**51,851**<br>**46,338**<br>**(1,147)**<br>**-**<br>**309,775**<br>**(5,347)**|
|---|---|---|
||**782,525**<br>**625,037**|**(1,006,092)**<br>-<br>**401,470**|
||289,900<br>507,278|(554,673)<br>-<br>**242,505**|
||**289,900**<br>**507,278**|**(554,673)**<br>-<br>**242,505**|
||||
||**1,072,425**<br>**1,132,315**|**(1,560,765)**<br>-<br>**643,975**|
|||**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>481,727<br>(61,295)<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>325,970<br>(63,217)<br>**Funds**<br>**Total**<br>**£**<br>**807,697**<br>**(124,512)**|
|||420,432<br>262,753<br>**683,185**|
|||**Restricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>475,919<br>(74,450)<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>**£**<br>322,488<br>(79,982)<br>**Funds**<br>**Total**<br>**£**<br>**798,407**<br>**(154,432)**|
|||401,469<br>242,506<br>643,975|



## 19) Pension commitments 

The Association operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Association in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the Association to the fund and amounted to £12,012 (2024 - £10,720). Contributions totalling £2,614 (2024 - £1,925) were payable to the fund at the balance sheet date. 

## 20) Related party transactions 

There were no related party transactions in the prior period. 

43 



11
ill
Grants
Awarded

AIM received 285 grant applications and awarded 98 grants worth a total of £727,453.  In comparison in 2024 we received 231 grant applications and awarded 122 grants totalling £751,856. 

**Pilgrim Trust Collection Care Audits =** 17 grants, £20,400 awarded, 37 applications received **Museum Fundamentals =** 25 grants, £256,138.13 awarded, 180 applications received **Connected Communities Round 3 =** 9 grants, £388,530 awarded, 9 applications via invitation **AIM Training Grants =** 11 grants, £3,300 awarded, 18 applications received **AIM National Conference Bursaries =** 12 grants, £4,010 awarded, 16 applications received **Wales Contactless Donation Boxes =** £90,000 to award in winter 2025, 24 grants totalling **£55,075** awarded, 25 applications with one ineligible application 

## Pilgrim Trust Collections Care and Conservation Grants 

In 2025 we supported small and medium museums in partnership with the Pilgrim Trust, through offering funding to undertake a conservator led collections care audit and follow up work through the NEW for 2025, Museum Fundamentals grant scheme. We received 37 grant applications across the two rounds and awarded 17 grants totaling £20,400: a 46% success rate. 

## Pilgrim Trust Audit Grants Awarded Spring 2025 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Ref. Organisation Award<br>155 City of Norwich Aviation Museum £1,200<br>157 Tewkesbury Museum £1,200<br>158 Hertford Museum £1,200<br>159 The Whithorn Trust £1,200<br>165 Walthamstow Pumphouse £1,200<br>166 Headstone Manor £1,200<br>171 Charles Burrell Museum, Thetford £1,200<br>172 Crewe Heritage Trust £1,200<br>TOTAL £9,600<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## Pilgrim Trust Audit Grants Awarded Autumn 2025 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Ref. Organisation Award<br>176 Kent Mining Museum £1,200<br>177 Hundred Heroines £1,200<br>179 Maryport Museum £1,200<br>182 Deaf History Archive Scotland £1,200<br>183 RAF Snaith Museum £1,200<br>184 Moor Pool Heritage Trust  £1,200<br>185 Anaesthesia Heritage Centre £1,200<br>187 Emery Walker Trust £1,200<br>189 Torfaen Museum £1,200<br>TOTAL £10,800<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


45 



## Museum Fundamentals Grants 

In 2025 we supported small and medium museums in partnership with the Pilgrim Trust and Julia Rausing Trust through the new Museum Fundamentals grant offer. We received a high number of applications, 180 across the spring and autumn rounds, showing the popularity of the funding offer. The new grant allows eligible members to submit an expression of interest form and then the panel selects a smaller number of grants to take forward to stage two and the completion of a full project plan and application. The panel awarded 25 grants totaling £256,138.13: a 14% success rate. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Museum Fundamental Grants Awarded Spring 2025<br>Ref. Organisation Purpose/Project Award<br>11 The Long Shop  Redesign and redisplay of ‘Made in Leiston’ gallery £14,000.00<br>Museum<br>16 Dacorum Heritage  Collection care and workspace creation for the Ovaltine collection £15,000.00<br>48 Dr Jenners House  Collections audit, training, equipment, and database update £8,608.00<br>49 Edinburgh  Development of collections management system, plus collection re-housing £13,000.00<br>Printmakers<br>53 Soldiers of  Remedial conservation work to Major Joan Cooke’s RACO mess dress and purse £904.00<br>Shropshire<br>61 Wycombe  Securing the future of Wycombe Museum’s Collection £18,670.00<br>Museum<br>62 Museum of  Phase 1 Inventory Project £4,000.00<br>Policing in Devon<br>& Cornwall<br>69 Museum of   Understanding the Heritage of Army Music – A significance project £11,438.00<br>Army Music<br>73 Museum of  Glass conservation and engagement project £15,000.00<br>Cornish Life<br>84 Congleton  From archive to access: Securing and sharing Congleton’s heritage £9,540.00<br>Museum<br>85 Brora Museum  Improving collection care at Brora Heritage £9,486.00<br>94 Elgin Museum/  Conserving the Spey coracle £10,800.00<br>the Moray Society<br>TOTAL £130,446.00<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


46 



## Museum Fundamentals Grants Awarded Autumn 2025 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Ref. Organisation Purpose/Project Award<br>46 Britten Pears Arts  Restoring Benjamin Britten’s viola to keep it playing publicly £10,850.00<br>Museum<br>101 Cyfarthfa Castle  The voice figures of Margaret Watts-Hughes: A conservation plan £9,721.00<br>102 Avoncroft  Laying the foundations: creating an accessible collections store and educational  £8,078.36<br>Museum  hub<br>107 Glasgow Print  £3,375.58<br>Studio<br>108 Chawton House  Caring for Chawton House: improving collections care in a move towards  £3,490.95<br>Accreditation<br>110 Corinium Museum  Bronze Age Chieftain: the conservation of a rare group of Bronze Age objects £3,102.60<br>114 Torquay Museum  Collections care improvements in Torquay Museums Top Store £18,200.64<br>120 The Green  Duplicate, duplicate, duplicate: improving accountability at the Green Howards  £10,398.00<br>Howards Museum  Museum<br>122 Eskdale Mill  Bakehouse refurbishment including provision of volunteer support £8,409.00<br>125 Museum of the  First aid on camera: preserving St John Ambulance’s photographic collection £18,621.00<br>Order of St John<br>177 The Royal  Medal conservation and repacking project: implementing the collections audit  £3,200.00<br>Hampshire  recommendations<br>Regiment Museum<br>178 Stanley Spencer  Development of a new collection cataloguing and management system £8,245.00<br>Gallery<br>180 The Jazz Centre  Tune-in to heritage: digitising BBC’s golden age jazz broadcasts £20,000.00<br>TOTAL £125,692.13<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


47 



Through the Know Your Neighbourhood funding, the Connected Communities grant aided projects were invited to apply for additional grant aid to extend the legacy of their projects. 

## Connected Communities R3 Grants 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Ref. Organisation Purpose/Project Award<br>CC001 Bowes Museum  Young Volunteers at the Bowes Museum £55,000<br>CC002 Doncaster  Happiness through Heritage in the Dearne £52,596<br>CC003 Gawthorpe  Sew Social £29,900<br>Textiles Collection<br>CC004 Peckover House  Damsons Project £40,000<br>and Gardens NT<br>CC005 Powell Cotton  The Sunshine Project £37,573<br>Trust<br>CC006 Signal Media  Connecting Lives through the lens of the Sankey Photographic Collection £40,000<br>CC007 Sunderland  Connected Communities in Sunderland £48,462<br>Culture<br>CC008 Ushaw Historic  Valuing Volunteers £40,819<br>House, Chapel,<br>and Gardens<br>CC009 Wolverhampton  Wolverhampton Creative Communities £44,000<br>Arts and Culture<br>TOTAL £388,530<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


48 



AIM Training Grants 2025 Our popular training grants offer up to £350 per organisation per annum. In 2025 we received 18 training grant applications and awarded 11 grants, a 61% success rate. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Organisation Purpose/Project Award<br>CC4 Museum of Welsh  Skills and Facilities Audit £350<br>Cricket<br>Cromarty Courthouse  Leadership Training £350<br>Museum<br>Army Flying Museum Expenses to attend a NAM course £350<br>Carisbrooke Castle Museum VE Day Training Sessions £350<br>Florence Nightingale  MA course cost and travel expenses £265<br>Museum<br>Crich National Tramway  Training in Adobe InDesign £350<br>Museum<br>The Mixed Museum Research visits to closed archives £220<br>West Highland Museum Air Faire training summit for two £350<br>Brighton Toy and Model  GDPR Training for staff and volunteers £275<br>Museum<br>REME National Army Museums Curators Course Expenses £220<br>Royal Anglican Regimental  National Army Museums Curators Course Expenses £220<br>Museum<br>TOTAL £3,300<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


49 



## AIM National Conference Bursaries 2025 

In 2025 12 AIM National Conference Bursaries were awarded. Bursary recipients were provided with tickets/free access to the two-day conference held at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and The Mary Rose and the evening social events. In addition, £175 worth of travel and subsistence expenses could be claimed as part of the bursary award. We received 16 applications for support and awarded 12 grants, a 75% success rate. The bursary places are available to organisational members and freelance members. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Organisation Purpose/Project Award<br>Freelancer, Curator at Large Conference Bursary 1 £175<br>Stourbridge Glass Museum (Volunteer Place) Conference Bursary 2 £175<br>Holst Victorian House Conference Bursary 3 £175<br>David Parr House Conference Bursary 4 £175<br>Chiltern Open Air Museum Conference Bursary 5 £175<br>Bow Street Museum of Crime & Justice Conference Bursary 6 £175<br>Wycombe Museum Conference Bursary 7 £175<br>The Weald & Downland Living Museum Conference Bursary 8 £160<br>Cowdray Heritage Trust Conference Bursary 9 £10<br>Trowbridge Museum Conference Bursary 10 £165<br>Arnos Vale Cemetery Conference Bursary 11 £175<br>Royston Museum Conference Bursary 12 £175<br>TOTAL £4,010<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


50 



## Wales Contactless Donation Box Grant 2025-2026 

Funded by the Welsh Government’s Culture Division, the grant was open to heritage sites that were accredited or working towards accreditation. Grants were awarded to 14 independent museums, 8 local authority museums and 2 regimental museums. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Ref. Organisation Award<br>CD25_01 Menai Bridge Community Heritage Trust £2,000<br>CD25_02 Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre  £2,500<br>CD25_03 Pontypridd Museum  £1,500<br>CD25_04 Greenfield Valley Museum  £4,000<br>CD25_05 Museum of Cardiff  £2,500<br>CD25_06 Knighton Museum & Gallery Trust  0<br>CD25_07 Llandudno Museum  £2,000<br>CD25_08 The Judges’s Lodging £2,200<br>CD25_09 Internal Fire Museum of Power £1,250<br>CD25_10 Nantgarw China Works Museum £1,550<br>CD25_11 Hay Castle Trust £3,500<br>CD25_12 Tenby Museum & Art Gallery £2,000<br>CD25_13 Mold and Buckley Museum & Library £1,500<br>CD25_14 Amgueddfa Torfaen Museum £4,000<br>CD25_15 Llandovery Heritage CIO £1,500<br>CD25_16 Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway Preservation Co. Ltd £3,475<br>CD25_17 Firing Line Museum of the Queen's Dragoon Guards and The Royal Welsh £4,000<br>CD25_18 Oriel Mon £4,000<br>CD25_19 Dylan Thomas Boathouse £1,150<br>CD25_20 Carmarthenshire Museums £1.150<br>CD25_21 Parc Howard £1.150<br>CD25_22 Museum of Land Speed £1,150<br>CD25_23 Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum £2,000<br>CD25_24 Museum of Welsh Cricket £2,000<br>CD25_25 Glynn Vivian Art Gallery £3,000<br>TOTAL £55,075<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


51 




Charity Registration No. 1082215 Company Registration No. 1350939 aim-museums.co.uk _Cover image: The Cartoon Museum_