TownsWeb Archiving Digitisation Grant Program (UK)

Deadline: 25-Jul-25

The TownsWeb Archiving is accepting applications for its Digitisation Funding Grant Programme.

Stemming from a conversation around the impact of funding on the heritage sector, the grant has adapted and evolved over the years, responding directly to the real and current needs of the heritage organisations it seeks to support.

Funding Information

• 3 x funding grants of £3,000
• Up to £1,000 in match funding for all other eligible applicants

Eligible Costs

• Funding covers the digitisation of:
  • Bound Volume Collections
    • Diaries & Minute Books
    • Journals & Magazine
    • Manuscripts
    • Newspapers
    • Photograph Albums & Scrapbooks
    • Published Books & Thesis
    • Registers & Personal Records
  • Archive Collections
    • Index Cards
    • Report & Letters (Loose Items)
    • Rolls & Parchment
  • Photograph Collections
    • 35mm Slides & Film Strips
    • Glass Plates & Lantern Slides
    • Negatives & Transparencies
    • Photographs
  • Part of the grant may be used to fund:
    • Transcription of metadata
    • OCR (optical character recognition) data capture

Ineligible Costs

• TWA Digitisation Grant funding may not be used for:
  • Archive website design/build
  • Setup of their digital collections management/publishing software
  • Projects that do not involve at least some element of image capture
  • On-site digitisation (i.e. digitisation at the client’s premises)
  • Audio-visual digitisation projects
  • 3D digitisation projects
  • Cataloguing of entire collections
  • Pure digitisation training
  • Salaries for project staff

Eligibility Criteria

• The following organisation types:
  • Public, private & charity archives
  • Business/corporate archives
  • Public & private libraries
  • Museums
  • Galleries
  • Institutions and organisations that have applied in previous years (even if the application is for the same collection/project).
• Organisations must be based within:
  • Great Britain
  • Northern Ireland
  • The Isle of Man
  • The Island of Jersey
  • The Island of Guernsey
  • The Island of Alderney

Ineligibility Criteria

• They currently do not accept applications from:
  • Private individuals with personal collections
  • Digitisation/scanning bureaus

Judging Criteria

• Heritage need: Heritage value, uniqueness, and importance of the collection.
• Social/community impact: How local people and communities will benefit from the collection.
• Research value: Whether academic, social historians, genealogists, or other researchers.
• Improved accessibility: Such as platforms, preservation, and website access.

For more information, visit TWA.