Deadline: 16-Jan-23
The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) is seeking applications for the COVID-19 Response Fund to support any heritage asset which is of outstanding importance to the national heritage and at risk due to the impact of COVID-19.
Launched in June 2021, this funding stream offers project grants to support any heritage asset which is:
- of outstanding importance to the national heritage
- at risk due to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19)
Funding Information
A total of £40million is being distributed by NHMF, made up of two lots of £20m:
- NHMF has made a commitment of £20m, which is available to applicants from across the UK.
- A £20m Cultural Assets Fund has been made available by DCMS as part of the government’s wider Culture Recovery Fund. This funding will safeguard nationally important heritage assets within England.
What can be funded?
- Examples include:
- works of fine and decorative art
- museum collections
- archives
- manuscripts
- items of industrial, transport and maritime heritage
- historic buildings and land
- NHMF can fund a range of costs in order to safeguard the heritage asset which is at risk. These include:
- acquisition/purchase costs, including associated professional fees
- transport costs, including conservation standard handling and packing for collections or heavy lift/transport costs for large items/historic vehicles
- interim storage costs and investment in new permanent storage capacity
- urgent conservation work necessary due to COVID-19 impact and investment to resolve maintenance backlog/deficit, collection care costs
- condition surveys, cataloguing, management and conservation planning
- professional fees, including legal and other fees to support asset transfer
- ownership transition costs; fixed term support to enable sustainable rehoming of heritage asset
- organisational development costs to support asset transfer; skills development/capacity building, business review and business planning support
What cannot be funded?
- They cannot fund:
- organisational costs that are eligible to be covered by other Government support, for example, furloughing (inclusive of the remaining percentage of salary costs for staff not covered by the Government’s Job Retention Scheme), or any additional salary costs above the furloughing cap
- redundancy costs of staff
- costs that are avoidable in the short term
- anything that contravenes the Governments’ advice on COVID-19
- recoverable VAT
- Nor can they fund items that have already been purchased, or that have been secured with a down payment or deposit. So if an item has already been paid for, you cannot apply for funding to reimburse the individual or organisation that bought it.
Eligibility Criteria
- charities
- not-for-profit organisations, for example voluntary groups, trusts, social enterprises and community interest companies
- public sector organisations
- Is this fund right for you?
- Are you applying for funding to support a nationally important heritage asset in the UK?
- Is the heritage asset at risk due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic?
- Have you explored all other sources of funding?
- Will the heritage asset be publicly accessible if you secure NHMF funding?
- If you have answered yes to the above questions, then this fund is for you.
- Other funding contributions
- NHMF can fund heritage projects of all sizes and there is no limit to the percentage of funding that can be applied for. They appreciate that in these challenging times it may not be possible to secure other funding contributions.
- However, NHMF operates as a fund of last resort, so they ask you to show that you have explored, or are exploring, all other possible sources of funding, including your own resources.
Ineligible
- private individuals
- commercial and for profit businesses
For more information, visit NHMF.
