Deadline: 22-Oct-23
Applications are now open for the Cultural Protection Fund (CPF), led by the British Council in partnership with the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The overarching objective of the fund is to help create sustainable opportunities for social and economic development through building capacity to foster, safeguard and promote cultural heritage. The CPF awards funding to projects which keep cultural heritage sites and objects safe, as well as supporting the recording, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. It also provides opportunities to local communities for training and education, enabling and empowering them in the long term to value, care for and benefit from their cultural heritage
Cultural heritage includes many different things from the past that communities value and want to pass on to future generations, for example:
- Archaeological sites and monuments
- Collections of objects, books or documents in museums, libraries or archives
- Historic buildings
- Cultural traditions such as stories, festivals, crafts, music, dance and costumes
- Histories of people, communities, places and events
- The heritage of languages and dialects
- People’s memories and experiences (often recorded as ‘oral history’).
Funding Information
- Applicants may apply for:
- Grants from £100,000 up to £500,000.
- Funding is available for projects commencing in April 2024. Projects can run for any duration but at the latest must finish by 31 January 2025.
Project Activities and Outcomes
- Heritage
- Outcome: Cultural heritage at risk is safeguarded for future generations.
- Example activities to achieve outcome
- Documentation resulting in new or improved records of cultural heritage (tangible or intangible).
- Physical work (e.g. repair or restoration) to bring tangible cultural heritage assets into better condition.
- Outcome: Cultural heritage at risk is better managed and prepared for potential threats
- Example activities to achieve outcome
- Preparation of risk assessments and management plans.
- Delivery of specific prevention, mitigation or preparedness measures as identified in a risk management plan, for example:
- documentation and preparation of inventories
- retrofitting of appropriate protection or monitoring systems (e.g. fire protection)
- development of procedures or plans relating to response or recovery or other relevant procedures or plans
- Actions to improve the integration of risk management plans for cultural heritage into relevant policies and plans at national, regional and/or local levels.
- Outcome: Local organisations and communities have increased capacity and/or resilience to care for and protect cultural heritage.
- Example activities to achieve outcome
- Relevant training and partnership working for cultural heritage professionals, volunteers, civil services or first responders.
- Recruitment of volunteers from within the local community to carry out roles identified in disaster risk management plans.
- Preparation of business or fundraising plans.
- Society
- Outcome: Local people have developed skills, potentially leading to increased professional or other opportunities.
- Example activities to achieve outcome
- Training for local people in specific heritage skills or broader subjects relating to planning, fundraising, management and promotion.
- Recruitment and training of new volunteers.
- Outcome: The profile of people engaging with cultural heritage is more diverse with respect to gender imbalances, age, ability, sexuality, ethnicity and social/religious background where appropriate.
- Example activities to achieve outcome
- Activities engaging new or underrepresented audiences with cultural heritage.
- Consideration of equality, diversity and inclusion principles in the design of project activities and outputs and the recruitment of participants.
- Pro-active support to help people overcome barriers to participation.
- Leadership and mentoring initiatives that encourage more diversity in senior cultural heritage sector roles.
- Outcome: Local communities have a better understanding of their cultural heritage and value it more.
- Example activities to achieve outcome
- Educational programmes or activities designed to help people learn about cultural heritage.
- New interpretation (e.g. information panels, museum displays, smartphone apps, websites, etc.) offering improved explanations for the public about cultural heritage.
- Events or activities (e.g. festivals, talks or tours) providing wider opportunities to engage with cultural heritage.
- Economy
- Outcome: The local economy has been diversified.
- Example activities to achieve outcome
Eligibility Criteria
- This round is open to organisations that are legally registered in Pakistan.
- Proposals must be submitted by a legally registered organisation and:
- Applications must be submitted by one lead applicant organisation with up to eight partner organisations. The lead applicant must be based in Pakistan and will be responsible for all reporting to CPF.
- It is not a requirement to have partner organisations, but you should consider if partnership agreements are required to help deliver your planned activities and include them if required.
- You will need to supply partnership agreements for all partners at the point of application.
- If you have partners based outside of Pakistan, please note that they will contract a nominated lead international partner if there is more than one partner based outside of Pakistan.
- The lead applicant organisation will be responsible for reporting all project progress and submitting funding claims during the project to CPF. If all partners are based inside Pakistan, CPF will enter into a contract with the lead partner only.
- Applications must demonstrate intent to benefit the heritage of Pakistan as their main aim. If private owners or for-profit organisations are involved in a project, they expect the benefit to the social and economic development of Pakistan to outweigh any private gain.
- If a grant is awarded, you will be required to accept the terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement.
- A lead applicant organisation can submit up to three expressions of interest under this round of funding but may only submit one full application.
- Sole traders are not eligible to apply. All applicants will be required to submit evidence that their organisation is legally registered and all applications and supporting documentation will need to provided in English.
Ineligible
- Projects where private gain outweighs public benefit
- Projects that don’t protect heritage
- Purchase of property or major capital projects involving significant amounts of redevelopment
- Projects which are not ODA compliant
For more information, visit British Council.