Information and tips on creating a successful proposal for the SUARTS/

V&A Museum of Childhood event 01.12.13

We will be taking approximately 5 projects to the V A Museum of Childhood event so original and interactive ideas are key to making your application successful.

Here are some of the types of ideas we are looking for....

Themed workshops, performances, drop-in activities, make do and mend arts & crafts, 1940s treats table, 1940s music and dance, 1940s hair and make-up, 1940s games, carol singing.

When thinking about your project, consider the following:

  • Audience: This event is aimed at families with children. It will be BUSY all day.
  • Think about how your idea could engage different age groups. What would attract them and keep them interested? (Children will be aged 3-10 & adults too!)
  • This is going to be a busy event, how will your idea cater for a constant flow of people? (materials etc) Can it cater for/engage large numbers of people at once or will it be a timed workshop with a limited number of participants per session?
  • Theme: This event has a clear theme: A 1940sChristmas. All ideas must incorporate this theme.
  • Research this era/theme, consider this in the subject and aesthetics of your idea. You will need to state why your idea is relevant to this theme in your application.
  • What could be learnt about this period through your idea?
  • Remember this is a Christmas fare, the concept itself does not have to be festive, but fun & festive cheer are essential!
  • Interactivity: Interactivity is key in engaging children’s attention.
  • What can be taken away from your activity? e.g something that has been made/ learnt/ enjoyed/ discovered.
  • Think about events you have been to where you have enjoyed an interactive event
  • How can different age groups get involved?

Remember this is not an opportunity for you to show your work, it’s a chance to show off and share your skills and talents and bring your creativity to a new audience.

  • Budget: Can your idea be delivered within budget?
  • Each proposal has a maximum budget of £100.
  • Be creative in your approach – what can you do for free/little cost?!
  • The MoC will be able to provide some materials (including scissors, paper etc)
  • Your Team: whilst we welcome individual proposals, in some instances it might be advisable to create a project team or collaboration.
  • Remember this event will be busy, the more people in your team the more people you can involve at once. It will be hard work to deliver on your own.
  • A team leader should be nominated to remain our point of contact.
  • Timings: The event will run 11am-4pm on Sunday 1st December
  • You will have to set up on the morning of the event and pack away once the event is over. You will need to attend a briefing from the MoC at 9.30am.
  • There isn’t lots of time to prepare for this event, so be realistic in what you can offer.
  • Timed workshops will need to last between 30-60 minutes per session , and parents/carers will be asked to stay with their children at all times.

Once you have a good idea of what you’d like to do, it’s important that you explain it clearly in your proposal:

Information on writing your proposal

Deadline for entries: 12noon on Friday 8th November

Submit your proposal via the online entry form at:

Your Proposal Content:

  • Remember that we will be reading about the project for the first time and have no idea what it’s about. Try and present it as simply and clearly as you can.
  • We will be looking at lots of proposals so please be concise. A few detailed paragraphs should be sufficient to get your idea and relevant points across.
  • Sell your idea to us: Tell us why this project would work well at this event, what will you/others be doing, is it interactive, how it is suitable for the audience, how does it fit the theme of this event, tell us about the delivery/ logistics.
  • It’s important that you tell us about the logistics of the project. For instance:
  • What materials would you use
  • Do you have any specific requirements – power/ sink access etc.
  • How would you deliver the project (Can you deliver it in a month’s time)
  • How many people could engage at once

Budget:

  • For each project, we will be allocating a small budget (max £100) and so it would be really great to see that you'd already thought about where this would be spent and considered keeping costs as low as possible. Indicate the estimated total cost of your proposal first, then complete this in the box titled ‘budget’ with a breakdown of where this money will be spent.

General info:

  • Bringing the project to life with some sketches/pictures will aid your application.
  • Incomplete or vague proposals will not be successful so ensure you have included the elements mentioned in this document & completed the entry form in full
  • Ideas to avoid: Workshops offered by the MoC already confirmed are: Paper chains & lanterns, shadow puppets story telling.
  • This event will be very busy.
  • The Museum of Childhood is located close to in Bethnal Green tube in London’s East End.

If you have any further questions please email Lucy Hatfield

We aim to notify the named contact of the successful proposals the week following the deadline.

The V&A Museum of Childhood reserve the right to change any aspects of the proposal that they deem unsuitable, but will attempt to keep any changes to a minimum.

Good luck!