The National Lottery Heritage Fund: Emergency Heritage Fund

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Track grant Notes

Overview

They have expanded their £50million Heritage Emergency Fund criteria to help heritage organisations safely reopen in line with Government guidelines.

The deadline to apply has also been extended to 12noon Friday 31 July.

The Heritage Emergency Fund is accepting applications for two grant levels to cover emergency costs during this difficult time.

The application criteria and priorities are different for each level of funding.

Emergency grants of £3,000 to £50,000

This grant level is for essential costs for the next 4 months to help organisations deal with immediate risks and become more stable. This level of funding may also include some costs that help organisations look towards longer-term recovery.

Emergency grants of £50,000 to £250,000

This grant level aims to help organisations that manage a heritage asset that is at risk over the next 4 months. This can include immediate costs, as well as costs to help organisations look towards longer-term recovery. Support will focus on heritage that we have significantly funded in the past, and that can demonstrate the vital contribution it has made to local communities.

Criteria for Emergency grants (£3,000 to £50,000)

To apply for these grants you must be a

a not-for-profit organisation
a current or previous recipient of a grant directly from us
and an owner, manager or representative of heritage, or be able to show you have delivered participatory heritage activity

They will prioritise organisations that:

have limited or no alternative access to other sources of support, for example, from Governments, other National Lottery distributors, other emergency funding from trusts and foundations
have already tried other options to stop being at risk such as putting projects on hold, rephasing milestones, repurposing other funding to support day-to-day operations, minimising costs but maximising the function of existing projects (value engineering)
are in greater financial risk from COVID-19 due to a reliance on trading or community fundraising income streams
are in greater financial risk due to limited reserves

Criteria for Emergency grants (£50,000 to £250,000)

To apply for these grants, you must be:

a not-for-profit organisation
a current or previous recipient of a grant directly from us for a project relating to a heritage asset at risk
an owner or manager of a heritage asset that is at risk due to the financial needs of your organisation over the next 4 months

They will prioritise organisations that:

have limited or no alternative access to other sources of support, for example, from Governments, other National Lottery distributors, other emergency funding from trusts and foundations
have already tried other options to stop being at risk. For example, putting projects on hold, rephasing milestones, repurposing other funding to support day-to-day operations, minimising costs but maximising the function of existing projects, also known as value engineering
are in greater financial risk from COVID-19 due to a reliance on trading or community fundraising income streams
are in greater financial risk due to limited reserves

In addition for this higher level of the Emergency Fund, they will also give priority to organisations that

are focused on a heritage asset that is at risk as a result of COVID-19
are making an outstanding contribution to places and communities
because of their strategic role in the heritage sector, it is likely that they will have received significant past investment from the National Lottery Heritage Fund
can demonstrate a good track record working towards our mandatory inclusion outcome, a wider range of people will be involved in heritage
can demonstrate they are managing heritage attractions that are significant to the heritage visitor economy. Particularly those in areas of deprivation that meet our economic regeneration outcome, the local economy will be boosted.
can demonstrate a good track record working towards our wellbeing outcome, people will have greater wellbeing

What will they fund?

The Heritage Emergency Fund is short-term funding to support the immediate actions needed to stabilise operations and manage unforeseen risks.

You can apply to us for a grant between £3,000 and £50,000 to cover essential costs for up to four months.

You may also apply for activity that will help your organisation begin to recover and follow guidance from government.

This could include increasing your digital activities during this period, testing and consulting on new activities that will help your organisation's recovery, and reviewing and revising your strategic operating plans.

Partnership funding is not required.

They want to support organisations to actively deal with immediate risks, to help you become more stable and to work towards longer term recovery.

As a guide you could apply to them for costs to:

stabilise your organisation in the immediate term to make sure the vital heritage you care for is not put further at risk by COVID-19 (for example, staff costs to allow you to respond, design and deliver plans)
help you plan and initiate mothballing of (putting aside or withdrawing from use) your heritage asset/s and other approaches to protecting heritage that is at risk
run immediate risk management reviews and the actions identified as needed to safe-guard your organisation
reconfigure business plans, governance and activity needed to help safeguard the future of your organisation
cover essential operational costs, for example, site security, maintaining climatic conditions for collections, or managing livestock on habitats
help you manage your site during social distancing. This could include additional staff to help manage queues, PPE for staff and volunteers, training, additional cleaning, implementing contactless payment methods, or temporary structures to help manage visitors, like shelter for queues or additional toilets
get advice from professionals, for example on risk, safety, how to support your staff or on new business models
cover essential IT equipment and connectivity costs to support homeworking and activities to enable your organisation to put information online and to interact with your community/customers.

What won't they fund?

costs that are eligible to be covered by Government support, for example, furloughing
the remaining salary costs for staff on furlough not covered by the Government’s Job Retention Scheme, or any additional salary costs above the furloughing cap
redundancy costs of staff not funded by a current National Lottery Heritage Fund project
costs that are avoidable in the short term. We will let you know if we think this is the case and remove these from your grant request
overhead costs you will incur beyond four months from the point of your application, we may consider some recovery costs that are slightly longer term if that makes sense for your organisation (for example, business plan reviews may need more time to understand the impact of COVID-19)
anything that contravenes Governments’ advice on COVID-19
recoverable VAT
costs related to promoting the cause or beliefs of political or faith organisations