Heritage

These funders specialise in grants for heritage projects, including building restorations, museums, archives and war memorials

As with any charitable project, it’s worth considering the funders that will fund a wide variety of projects.

This page is updated annually. Spotted an error? Please let us know.

 

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Grants from £3,000 to £5m for projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. There are four levels of funding:

National Heritage Memorial Fund

NHMF will help charities, non-profit organisations and public bodies fund heritage projects of all sizes, including works of fine and decorative art, museum collections, archives, manuscripts, items of transport and industrial history, and historic buildings and land. There is no upper limit to its awards, but it operates as a fund of last resort, so you must be able to prove that you have explored, or are exploring, all other possible sources of funding.

Historic England

Historic England administers various funds for heritage projects, including:

Historic Houses Foundation

Grants from £1,000 to £250,000 for individuals or organisations for repairs and restoration work required to prevent loss of or damage to historic buildings, their gardens, and any outbuildings, located in England or Wales.

The Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund

Grants of £20,000 to £120,000 are available to UK museums and galleries for projects that demonstrate the significance, distinctiveness and power of collections to people. Projects can last up to three years. The next deadline is 11 September 2019.

Trusthouse Charitable Foundation

Grants from £2,000 to £60,000 are available to UK charitable organisations with a total annual income under £500,000, under a range of themes including Arts, Education and Heritage. See the Grants Gallery for examples of successful applications. Core costs, salaries and capital expenditure are all acceptable.

Projects must be based in a rural area (towns, villages and areas with 10,000 or less inhabitants) which are classified by the government as being in the most deprived 50%, or in urban areas (more than 10,000 inhabitants) which are classified as being in the most deprived 20%. Click here to check whether your area is eligible.

Headley Trust

Part of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, The Headley Trust offers grants on arts and heritage themes including:

  • Regional museums and galleries, with special consideration for curatorial support and acquisitions
  • The display, study and acquisition of British ceramics
  • Conservation of industrial, maritime and built heritage
  • Archaeology; arts education/outreach and access to the arts for disabled and disadvantaged people

The Architectural Heritage Fund – Transforming Places Through Heritage

The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) has a range of grants that support restoration projects for redundant or underused community-owned historic buildings in town centres.

  • Project Viability Grants: up to £15,000, for early viability and feasibility work
  • Project Development Grants: up to £100,000, for capital project development costs
  • Crowdfunding Challenge Grants: up to £25,000, to match-fund crowdfunding campaigns
  • Transformational Project Grants: up to £350,000, for transformational capital projects
  • Community Shares Booster Grants: further info to be announced.

The Wolfson Foundation – Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund

Grants up to £300,000 are available for capital projects at selected museums and galleries across England in order to make improvements to buildings or collections. This fund will reopen later in 2019.

War Memorials Trust

Grants of up to £30,000 are available (up to 75% of total eligible project costs) to protect and conserve freestanding war memorials (but not graves) in England. Individuals, organisations and councils can apply. The fund covers repairs but not routine maintenance.

National Churches Trust

Grants up to £50,000 are available to support the conservation and sustainable use of church buildings in the UK, with priority given to urgent structural repairs or the introduction of kitchens and accessible toilets. Grants will cover up to 50% of the project cost.

National Archives – Archives Revealed

Grants up to £40,000 are available to public sector bodies, registered charities and other not-for-profit organisations to create catalogues of important archival collections. This fund will reopen for applications later in 2019. There’s also a Scoping Grant scheme, which offers up to £3,000 to fund an assessment report incorporating expert advice on a range of areas relating to collections management and the development of a collection. This is a rolling programme with decisions made on a quarterly basis.

This page is updated annually. Spotted an error? Please let us know.