As the wider heritage sector prepares to re-open over the spring after the latest COVID lockdown, several grant giving organisations have announced the re-opening of funding streams or revised initiatives relevant to the Industrial Heritage sector. Below is a brief summary of some of these.

Arts Council England National Lottery Fund Project Grants

The Arts Council England (ACE) have has re-opened its Project Grants. However, ACE have advised that  in order to do this it is taking longer than usual to process and reach decisions on some applications.  If you are submitting an application for £15,000 or under please allow up to 10 weeks to receive your decision. If you are submitting an application for over £15,000, please allow up to 16 weeks to receive your decision.  There are additional supplementary guidance which applies until 31 August 2021 designed to help fund independent organisations, creative practitioners and freelancers as quickly as possible.  The ACE supplementary guidance outlines what has changed to make the fund more responsive to the needs of smaller independent organisations and individual practitioners during Covid-19. Find out more about the changes, and how to apply, by following this link: Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants | Arts Council England

AIM Pilgrim Trust Collections and Conservation Grants 

With funding from The Pilgrim Trust, AIM (Association of Independent Museums) is currently inviting applications to their Collections Care, Audit, and Conservation grant schemes. The grants support small to medium sized museums to care for their collections more effectively and efficiently and to meet the standards required for Accreditation.  The closing date for the latest round of grants is 31 March 2021. Further details here: Collections Care and Conservation Grants – AIM – Association of Independent Museums (aim-museums.co.uk)

Museum Development North West Rapid Reopening Grants

Museum Development North West is launching a Rapid Reopening Grants fund to support North West museums planning to reopen in late May or June 2021, assuming national restrictions allow for a Step 3 reopening at that time. This is not their main grant fund, which will re-open later in the year, but a light-touch small grants scheme designed to give a helping hand to those museums who intend to reopen on or soon after 17^th May. The deadline for applications is the 25th March.

Museums with outdoor spaces that can reopen in April as part of Step 2 are also able to apply to this fund. Also, if you are already in receipt of our Covid-19 Recovery Grant, have had Arts Council England’s Emergency Response Funding, or have had or are waiting for the outcome of a bid to the Culture Recovery Fund, you can still apply to this fund. And, if you had already opened for a period before England went into the latest national lockdown, you can still apply to this fund.

Details on how to apply can be found here: MDNW Rapid Reopening Grants – deadline 25th March | Museum Development North West (wordpress.com)