Covid Recovery Programme for Heritage Organisations
Overview
Applications are invited from eligible organisations negatively affected by the pandemic in the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, and can demonstrate an operating deficit during that period which is attributable in full or in part to COVID-19.
Is this the right programme for you?
- Are you a not-for-profit organisation or business that owns, works with or manages heritage based in Northern Ireland?
- Does your organisation have an operating deficit in the financial year of 2021-2022, caused by the impact of the pandemic?
- Do you require financial assistance of up to £50,000?
If you answered yes to these questions, then Covid Recovery Programme for Heritage Organisations could be for you.
Overview
This fund is for heritage organisations operating in Northern Ireland
Heritage can mean different things to different people. It can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations.
As a guide, this could include:
- people’s memories and experiences (often recorded as ‘oral history’)
- cultural traditions (for example, stories, festivals, crafts, music and dance)
- community archaeology
- historic buildings, monuments and environments
- designed landscapes, such as parks and gardens
- collections of objects, books or documents in libraries or archives
- histories of people and communities or places and events
- the heritage of languages and dialects
- places and objects linked to our industrial, maritime and transport history.
Who can apply?
They are accepting applications from heritage organisations operating in Northern Ireland.
It isn’t possible to list every type of organisation that makes up their broad and varied heritage sector. If you don’t see your organisation in the list below, they still encourage you to make an application.
Organisations must be:
- Not for profit organisations that manage heritage sites, venues, collections or attractions.
- OR not for profit organisations that provide significant support to the heritage sector.
- If your organisation is based in England, Scotland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland and you manage heritage in Northern Ireland, you are eligible to apply provided that you are a not for profit organisation and able to provide separate financial information relating solely to heritage activity in Northern Ireland.
If you manage more than one heritage site, please submit one application for your organisation as a whole. They ask you to do this so you can demonstrate the financial risk to your organisation and to ensure that your business planning needs are considered in the round.
Available Funding
The maximum amount of funding available to an eligible organisation under this programme is £50,000.
Exceptionally, a greater amount of funding may be available to eligible organisations that can demonstrate that the deficit attributable to COVID-19 in the financial year is greater than £50,000 and that the organisation requires funding in excess of that sum to stabilise financially. Organisations seeking an amount in excess of £50,000 must contact The Heritage Fund before making an application.
Essential Criteria
You should only apply for this funding if you are able to meet all of the essential criteria:
- You are a not-for-profit constituted organisation whose primary purpose is heritage.
- You were financially viable at 31 March 2021.
- You continue to have no concerns regarding the viability of your organisation.
- Based on the financial calculations for the first 9 months of the financial year from 1 April 2021, the organisation anticipated that it would have an operating deficit at the end of March 2022 and they can confirm that this is COVID-19 related.
Priority Funding
In the event that the eligible awards exceed available funding, those organisations with the largest operating deficits will get priority. Operating deficits will be expressed as a percentage of income in the financial year 2021/22.
What can you apply for?
Calculation of Grant Amount
The amount of grant that can be requested will be determined as the projected deficit of the eligible organisation in the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, but only to the extent to which that deficit is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Complete the financial template available on their website must be used to calculate this figure.
Calculation of the projected deficit will require applicants to make projections of future income and expenditure in the period up to 31 March 2022. This can be a challenging process, particularly in times of uncertainty such as the present. However, applicant organisations, their Directors, Trustees and managers must use their best endeavours when completing the application to make realistic projections over the rest of the financial year based on the financial history and performance of the organisation.
In making their projections of future income and expenditure, applicants must assume that the relevant COVID-19 related restrictions in force on the day of application remain in force until 31 March 2022.
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Grants up to £50,000
If the Eligibility Questionnaire shows that you are an eligible organisation, and that your primary focus is Heritage, you may proceed with your application.
They are not offering one-to-one pre-application advice for this programme, so make sure you read the guidance carefully and check that you are eligible to apply. It should provide all the information you need to know to make an application.
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Grants over £50,000: Exceptional Circumstances
Only exceptionally should the value of an award under the programme exceed £50,000. In such circumstances, the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate how the organisation meets one or more of the criteria under which a higher award will be considered:
- That it is in financial difficulty, with a risk of (a) closure (b) loss of jobs or (c) loss of services which would impact on community health or wellbeing;
- That it is of significant strategic importance to the sector or locality and without financial support survival is threatened, and that the loss of the organisation could cause longer-term damage to sectoral growth and development;
- That it is prudent to accept a single application on behalf of a number of smaller charitable entities that are an integral part of a larger established organisation, and where financial need is greater than £50,000.
Before large amounts of public funding may be committed, an application for more than £50,000 will be subject to a wider assessment to determine viability, financial resilience and strategic importance within a balanced sector and explore whether other financial levers are available to the organisation.
On behalf of The Heritage Fund, the Department for Communities may arrange to provide additional financial expertise to the assessment, to ensure sectoral consistency to larger awards.
To apply for a grant in excess of £50,000, you must submit a Project Enquiry Form through their portal to receive feedback. This Project Enquiry Form must be submitted by noon on Tuesday 4 January 2022. They strongly recommend you submit this as soon as possible so that you can proceed with your full application.
They will review your request and let you know whether and how to proceed as soon as possible, by Tuesday 11 January 2022.
Partnership funding
There is no partnership funding requirement for this fund.
Treatment of Reserves
The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland defines reserves as the unspent resources or income of an organisation. These may or may not be governed by an explicit reserves policy.
The Department for Communities recognises that it is prudent for organisations to build up and maintain a level of reserves appropriate to the circumstances of the organisation. The Department’s policy is to recognise and encourage good governance such as the creation of appropriate reserves. For that reason, the cost of replenishing reserves run down to fund a COVID-19 related deficit will be eligible for support under this programme up to the level equivalent to six months turnover for the organisation or the organisation’s reserves held at 1 April 2021, whichever is less.
This means that the maximum grant available to your organisation will normally be limited to the amount, which would restore six months of reserves. It also normally means that if your organisation has projected reserves at 31 March 2022 in excess of six months turnover you should not expect to receive a payment under this programme.
If you believe that your organisation has a valid need for holding reserves greater than six months turnover, you must include the reason for this need in your funding application.