Arts Council England

Arts Council England (ACE) is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Their aim is for everyone to be able to participate in and enjoy creativity and culture, no matter who they are or where they live. ACE invests public money from government and from the National Lottery in cultural organisations and creative practitioners to help achieve this vision.

ACE’s has an ambitious vision for the future of creativity and culture. By 2030, it wants England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish. A country where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. Let’s Create is the 10 year strategy to achieve this. 

Underpinning the strategy are three Outcomes and four Investment Principles (IPs). The IPs are designed to help organisations make sure their work, and the way they work, is environmentally responsible, ambitious and high quality, inclusive and relevant, and dynamic.

Learn more about the Investment Principles.

The Museum Development programme, including Museum Development Midlands, is funded by ACE and focuses on building the resilience and ambition of museums that are not funded directly by government or ACE. 

ACE wants all museums to be sustainable, focused and trusted organisations, which offer their visitors a great experience. 

The Accreditation Scheme sets out nationally-agreed standards, which inspire the confidence of the public and funding and governing bodies. 

Museums can apply for National Lottery Project Grants - ACE’s open access programme for arts, libraries and museums projects – which can enable them to develop their collections-based work and increase public engagement with, and use of, their collections.

Follow this link to the ACE website to understand many more ways in which ACE is supporting the museum sector care for and celebrate the collections held across the country.