About Museum Freelance

We support and champion freelancers and consultants working with museums, galleries, heritage sites, archives and libraries in the UK.

Museum Freelance is run by freelancers, for freelancers.

We provide a platform and opportunities for freelancers to collaborate, learn and flourish.  

We facilitate online and in-person networking and sharing within a community of over 1,600 freelancers; run training courses and a conference; and undertake lobbying and advocacy on behalf of freelancers.

We’ve undertaken the sector’s first large and robust survey into freelancing, and secured and distributed a grant to provide 15 hardship grants to freelancers needing support as a result of Covid-19.

We also offer consultancy support to sector support organisations and clients who want to develop their working practice with freelancers.

Founded in 2015 and run in a voluntary capacity, as of September 2020 Museum Freelance is run as a limited company by freelance consultants Marge Ainsley and Christina Lister.

Our values

Empowering

We are passionate about our mission to champion and support freelancers. We want to inspire and empower freelancers to start, develop and sustain a freelancing career that meets their goals, whatever those goals may be.

Diversity

We know that freelancers and their goals, approaches, interests, backgrounds and circumstances vary enormously. We aim to be inclusive and accessible, provide a platform for a wide range of voices and cater for a wide range of freelancers.

Responsive

We are forward-thinking and will learn and develop to meet the changing needs of freelancers. We operate with flexibility and agility and can react quickly to issues that spring up. We are bold and will challenge the status quo when needed.

Collaboration

We encourage collaboration not competition between freelancers, and believe a collective voice is more powerful than an individual voice. We collaborate with sector organisations to make procurement processes and working relationships with freelancers more effective and ethical.

Trustworthiness

Running Museum Freelance is a privilege, and representing and serving freelancers is a responsibility we take seriously. We operate with integrity and are open, principled and humble.