Our Impact

Our latest Annual Review highlights the range of support we provide to the museum sector, our delivery on the aims of Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Strategy, and our achievements as an organisation. The review also features some personal reflections from our CEO Lucy Casot, and details of our grant-making and finances.

We have also published a Climate Report for 2025-26 that outlines the efforts of MGS and the museum sector to take climate action through training, programming, partnerships, and sustainable practice.

Our actions in 2025-26 have been made possible with the support of the Scottish Government, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the People’s Postcode Lottery, Art Fund, The Baring Foundation, and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

You can access our Annual Review and Climate Report by following the links below.

We award targeted grants that support the development of Scotland’s museum sector and respond to its needs.

In 2025-26 we awarded 190 grants, through 13 funding streams, to a value of  £6,506,522. These grants supported 111 organisations across Scotland.

We receive funding from the Scottish Government for distribution to museums and galleries. This supports the museum sector to develop their work and deliver against the priority areas of Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Strategy.

We also distribute funding from other sources such as The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the People’s Postcode Lottery, Art Fund, The Baring Foundation, and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. This third-party funding is often connected to specific projects and programmes that we run.

MGS staff collaborate with the workforce and partners to deliver sector-leading programmes of funding and support.

In July 2025 we launched our Museum Futures programme to accelerate collaboration, innovation, and organisational sustainability across the sector. In 2025-26, over £3.5million in Museum Futures funding was awarded to museum organisations. Our Museum Futures team engaged with over 100 museum organisations, providing access to funding, skills development, expert advice and peer-to-peer learning. Continued funding for Museum Futures has been secured for 2026-27.

July 2025 also saw the launch of Protection Through Connection, a new two-year Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) project delivered by MGS in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland and TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland). This project will raise the profile of Scotland’s living traditions by building stronger relationships between cultural and heritage organisations and communities that maintain ICH.

Our Delivering Change programme, which aims to embed anti-oppression into Scotland’s museums and galleries, continues into its second year in 2025-26. Participants received anti-racism and anti-ableism training and developed anti-racism action plans. The programme’s Sustainable Co-Production Fund concluded, having fostered stronger relationships between museums and community partners.

We maximise our impact on Scotland’s museum sector by investing in the development of the workforce.

We organise Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Strategy Symposium, an annual event which addresses the shared strategic objectives of the museum sector. Our Symposium in March 2026 was attended by 242 delegates.

Our Developing My Leadership course, Modern Apprenticeship programme, lunch and learn sessions, and one-to-one marketing support surgeries have all offered museum workers further opportunities to gain new skills and expertise.

We also run skills-sharing sessions and Knowledge Exchange events for the museum sector workforce. Our staff write and commission advice guides on a wide range of topics, and collate sector stories about best practice taking place at museums and galleries across Scotland.

We use our role as a national development body to amplify the voice of Scotland’s museum sector.

We work closely with the Scottish Government to advocate for the strategic priorities of the museum sector, ensuring that the perspectives of museums and galleries are represented in relevant consultations, in Parliamentary Committee panels and inquiries on Scotland’s culture and tourism, and across the Scottish Government’s Culture Strategy.

Ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliamentary elections, we launched a national advocacy campaign calling for the next Government to support the development of a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive museum sector.

We regularly meet with museum services and museum sector leaders to ensure that we’re able to advocate effectively on their behalf. In 2025-26, we made 129 visits to 82 museums across Scotland.

We work closely with UK-wide organisations and the Museums & Galleries Advocacy Group to strengthen our advocacy and key messaging and find shared solutions and opportunities.

By working in partnership with stakeholders within the museum sector and beyond, we’re able to make the most of our knowledge, skills, and resources.

Our work on the delivery of Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Strategy continues to involve close collaboration and consultation with a wide range of organisations and individuals.

We work closely with VisitScotland on joint marketing campaigns and other supported activity to help raise the profile of museums and galleries to a public audience.

We have an ongoing partnership with Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, and Creative Scotland to support the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland.

The Scottish Museums Climate Network, which we created in 2024 to facilitate guidance, training, and conversations across the museum sector, now has over 150 members.