The National Archives: Archives Revealed - Cataloguing Grant
Overview
Cataloguing grant
The Cataloguing Grants programme provides grants of up to £50,000 for the cataloguing of significant archive collections held in the UK. The programme aims to unlock these collections for the public for research and enjoyment. At least 20% of the total grant value is required to be allocated to activities that will promote public engagement with the collection during or after cataloguing.
Archives Revealed Cataloguing Grants funds projects lasting for up to two years from the date of award. The grant usually pays for a trained, professional archivist to work with the collection, as well as now providing funding for public engagement activities. The fund can be used for complementary activities in the cataloguing process, such as the provision of storage materials, however, this should not be the focus of the application.
The aims of the Cataloguing Grant programme are to:
- Increase access to previously unavailable archive material.
- Increase engagement with archive collections by a wider audience.
- Enable deeper use of archive material to further understanding of collections.
- Increase confidence and skills of archivists to enable them to successfully secure income to fund archive development.
Eligibility
This programme can fund most organisations with an archival collection including deposited collections, which are able to provide access to the collection for the public in the UK for at least ten years following the grant’s completion.
They recommend that organisations consult with qualified archivists when preparing their application, so that they are informed about the project and can provide informed answers to the questions. If awarded funding, grantees must have access to professional archival expertise from a qualified archivist or heritage professional with equivalent experience, to ensure adherence to archive professional standards and support recruited staff, including newly-recruited archivists, in the delivery and management of the project. Applications that are not able to clearly show the involvement of archive / heritage professionals are highly unlikely to receive funding and may be deemed ineligible.
Archives Revealed can fund any eligible organisations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The funded collection must also be held in these countries.
They welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making their application process accessible to everyone.
They welcome partnership and consortium bids, provided that the lead organisation satisfies all of the criteria above.
Funding Level
Applicants will be asked to submit a full budget for their project. The maximum award of funding for any grant will be £50,000. At least 20% of your grant award must be allocated to engagement activities using the catalogued collection.
Archives Revealed will fund the additional staff costs required to deliver your project. This can include employing new project staff, or backfilling existing staff allocated to the project.
The project needs to be managed and substantially carried out by appropriately qualified staff. Volunteers, secondments, apprenticeships, internships and staff exchanges may be eligible to fulfil supporting roles, and they welcome e.g. volunteer- or community-led approaches to cataloguing – but they do not support projects that are managed and led solely by volunteers.
Non-staff costs - Complementary materials such as packaging costs, or complementary costs such as travel and subsistence, or materials for public engagement activities, can be included in your budget request.
Match Funding - The programme can supply up to 100% of project costs; however they strongly encourage applicants to contribute from their own resources or other funding sources (e.g. other grant funders). This could be in the form of a cash contribution, confirmed funding from external sources, or an in-kind contribution. Match funding can increase an application’s chances of funding success.