HLF to provide £8m to help build heritage organisations’ resilience
Heritage organisations and partnerships can now apply to a new £8 million annual investment programme from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help them become more resilient.
They can apply for Resilient Heritage grants of between £3,000 and £250,000 to help them manage heritage for the long term.
The funding will help organisations to:
- Acquire new skills or knowledge to help build fundraising capacity or open up new income streams
- Explore new business operating models or introduce new approaches to governance and leadership
- Identify opportunities to reduce negative environmental impacts and make efficiency savings
- Create partnerships between heritage organisations to provide training and capacity building
- Prepare to take on new responsibility for heritage, such as through community asset transfer
The Resilient Heritage funding builds on HLF’s Catalyst, Transition and Start Up Grant programmes. Catalyst, launched in 2012 in partnership with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England, was designed to help heritage organisations develop fundraising skills to build financial independence as they faced reduced public funding.
Ros Kerslake, HLF Chief Executive, said:
“Catalyst showed us there is an appetite from heritage organisations to adapt and grow in order to build a firm financial footing. Resilient Heritage brings together all that we have learnt, providing a tailored package of support that responds to the individual needs of organisations so they can not only survive in these challenging financial times, but thrive.”
Advertisement
How resilient is your heritage organisation?
HLF has introduced a new online Resilient Heritage strength checker to help heritage organisations better establish their current resilience. It helps identify areas of strength and weakness.
There are currently no application deadlines for Resilient Heritage. Applications will be assessed within eight weeks and then discussed at a monthly advisory meeting at applicants’ local Heritage Lottery Fund office.