Local and regional accredited museums and local authorities in England are invited to apply for a share of £16.9 million in funding to enable them to undertake vital infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlog work which is beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets.

The funding is made available through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and is administered by Arts Council England.

It will support capital expenditure from £50,000 to £5M for work that improves core infrastructure and reduces the immediate risks to buildings, visitors, staff and collections.

For capital grants of £50,000 to £499,000, at least 5% of your project funding must come from other sources.

For grants of £500,000 to £5 million, at least 10% must come from other sources.

Your project will need to start between 17 April and 17 May 2024 and finish before 31 March 2027. You must show the work for your project is urgent and needs to be completed in the 2 years after the grant is awarded.

A webinar is available to view to answer applicants’ questions about the fund and how to apply – click here to watch the MEND applicant webinar.

The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is 12 midday on Friday 31 April 2023.

The full online application form will open at 9am on Tuesday 30 May 2023.

The deadline for submitting a full application is 12 midday on Friday 18 August 2023.

Final decisions will be announced in March 2024.

For full details, visit the Arts Council Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) Round 3 webpage.