Deadline: 05-Jul-2024
Historic England is offering grants to help uncover hidden histories and encourage more diverse nominations for their blue plaques.
The Community Research Grants are available to organisations working with communities, and in partnership with a historian or researcher, who want to discover more about people or groups who may be eligible for a national blue plaque.
The aim is for the funded research to pave the way for communities to submit nominations for national blue plaques in the future. They also hope to create opportunities for the research to be shared with local communities and shine a light on significant people from their area or heritage.
This funding is specifically for research taking place outside of Greater London, or on projects where the potential national blue plaque would be sited outside of Greater London.
Funding Information
- They have a total fund available of £70,000
- They are looking to award between 10-15 research grants in 2024.
- Grants will be awarded between £3,000 – £7,000. The maximum applicants can apply for is £7,000.
Why are they funding this research?
- The national blue plaques scheme is about celebrating people, from all walks of life, that have made a significant contribution to human welfare and happiness. Often, marginalised and under-represented people are less represented through commemoration. These grants will fund new community-engaged research into significant groups and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds and communities so that their stories are celebrated and reach broader audiences.
- They want the national blue plaques to commemorate individuals or groups that have been nominated by communities today, celebrating who is important to them and bringing renewed pride to the area. They expect the projects funded through this scheme to work with communities to co-produce research that is relevant and valued by people living in the local area.
- While the aim for this research is to lead to more diverse applications to the national blue plaques scheme, in some cases there might not be enough evidence for a successful nomination. This is ok, as they want to share the stories uncovered by the research. Any nominations that are received will go through the same process as all other public nominations, and there is no guarantee the nominated person or group will receive a plaque.
- As a result of this work:
- People and stories that have been overlooked will be researched and celebrated
- Research will be carried out into people or groups who have not yet been commemorated by a plaque
- Local communities will have the opportunity to learn about the person or group being celebrated increasing local pride and developing new skills
- Local communities will have the opportunity to increase social connections
- Local communities engaged with the project will have a greater understanding and enjoyment of the diversity of heritage around them
Outputs
- In addition, to researching your chosen person or group, there are three outputs Historic England would like as part of these research projects:
- A written summary of the research undertaken. Grantees should deliver a two-to-eight-page summary of the research undertaken and recommendations on next steps for the research if applicable. This should include the details of the person or group that was researched, what was discovered through the project and how the communities took part in the process. A template for this will be provided once the grants have been awarded.
- Opportunities within the project to share the research and stories publicly, and with the communities to whom it is important. This could take a variety of forms, from a walking tour of the local area, an exhibition at a local library, a presentation to schools, online content or some other form of event or celebration to share the stories of the significant person with the community.
- And in some cases:
- A national blue plaque nomination in 2025. This is where you will be able to summarise your research and make the case for a national blue plaque to be awarded. The current nomination form is available online, and the 2025 version will be available in spring 2025.
- The outputs and the process must have accessibility at their core, applications should demonstrate consideration of disabilities and other barriers to access.
- They hope to publish elements of the research produced on the Historic England website, and other relevant platforms in order to share the stories more broadly. The details will be discussed with successful applicants.
Eligible Activities
- Activity funded through this programme might include:
- Accessing local or national archives to discover more about the life of significant person and the building they are connected to. For example, researching which building an important person of lived in, or where they worked at an important stage of their life.
- Spending time researching the scale of significance a particular person or group had and evidencing how their activities had national influence. This might be something like a particular invention or scientific discovery, or something such as a style of art or music that went on to have great significance.
- Conducting research into a particular community to discover people from that group who have had national significance.
- Researching with communities and capturing oral histories or collecting evidence about a significant person from history.
Eligibility Criteria
- All organisations are eligible to apply including community interest groups, education institutions, charities and local authorities, but they must be working with an experienced researcher or historian as part of the project
- They will not fund individuals or sole traders
- They will only fund organisations who can evidence working with underrepresented communities including diverse and minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people, disabled and neurodiverse people and women
- Please note these grants are not designed to fund reinterpretation of museum collections
For more information, visit Historic England.