Grant Directories

The Ironmongers' Company, as part of its charitable activities, works to promote the craft of ironwork. Support is given primarily for the conservation of historic ironwork or the creation of new decorative iron or steel work.  

The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF) is a grant making organisation which aims to transform lives and build sustainable communities across the UK by funding a wide range of good causes within their core funding themes: Heritage & Conservation, Education, Health & Wellbeing, Social Inclusion, Environment and Countryside. Through the Small Grants Programme, the PWCF will award grants of up to £5,000 to not-for-profit organisations with an income of up to £1 million. The average award is £1,500. Priority will be given to organisations of which HRH The Prince of Wales is Patron. Applications can be made at any time and will be considered by the Small Grant committee at their quarterly meetings.

The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund is a grant making organisation which aims to transform lives and build sustainable communities across the UK by funding a wide range of good causes within their core funding themes: Heritage & Conservation, Education, Health & Wellbeing, Social Inclusion, Environment and Countryside. The Major Grants Programme will award grants of over £5,000 to not-for-profit organisations. Organisations can apply for major grants by invitation only.

The Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe aims to ensure that Jewish culture and heritage are actively supported, valued and looked after for generations to come. Through the Museums Collection Management programme the foundation provides grants of up to £75,000 to support the conservation and/or preservation of individual objects, groups of objects, or the improvement of conservation and/or preservation programmes through the purchase of supplies and equipment, including security measures, insurance, and temperature and humidity controls. Grants are available to museums wishing to develop better and more accessible inventory of collections, particularly digitisation, online cataloguing and other technology-based improvements. 

The Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe aims to ensure that Jewish culture and heritage are actively supported, valued and looked after for generations to come. Through the Archives and Libraries Digital Humanities Resource Development and Enhancement programme the foundation provides funding for the digitisation and transcription of Jewish archival or library collections, as well as the creation of accompanying metadata, using techniques such as OCR, TEI, or Linked Open Data. Collections may contain documentary, as well as audio-visual, photographic or born-digital materials. Eligible costs include additional staff hours for the creation, processing and indexing of digital materials, the ongoing development of projects’ technical architecture, equipment costs (no more than 35% of the overall budget), and travel for project partners to meet. 

The Arts & Culture Impact Fund brings together public, private and charitable funding to provide affordable repayable finance to the UK’s arts, culture and heritage organisations able to demonstrate measurable positive social impact. The funding could be used, among other things, to acquire new assets, improve built infrastructure, develop new ventures or scale up existing revenue streams.

Museums can apply for grants of between £15,000 to £50,000 (or up to £60,000 for museums caring for Recognised Collections for projects relating to those collections) for projects which will help your museum to make strategic steps towards becoming more resilient organisations in line with the aims of the National Strategy.  Funding is available for discrete projects that are additional to, or will help Museums to strategically develop their core work.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund uses money raised by players of the National Lottery to fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. This could include oral history; cultural traditions; nature; natural and designed landscapes; community archaeology; historic buildings, monuments and environments; collections of objects, books or documents in museums, libraries or archives; etc. Funding is available for repairs and conservation, digital technology, new staff posts, paid training placements and professional fees. Grants range from £3,000 to £5,000,000.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund uses money raised by players of the National Lottery to fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. This could include oral history; cultural traditions; nature; natural and designed landscapes; community archaeology; historic buildings, monuments and environments; collections of objects, books or documents in museums, libraries or archives; etc.  Grants range from £3,000 to £5,000,000.

The Association of Independent Museums supports independent museums, galleries and heritage organisations in the UK. The AIM Collections Care Grant Scheme which is funded by the Pilgrim Trust has been set up to help small museums develop a more sustainable approach to the conservation and management of their collections through improvements to collections care within their museum. Grants may enable museums to receive tailored, specialist advice about care of collections, equipment to implement that advice, training of staff or volunteers to use new equipment. The maximum grant available is £10,000.

The Association of Independent Museums support and champion independent museums, galleries and heritage organisations in the UK. The Collection Care Audits programme is designed to enable small museums to undertake a basic professional collections care audit. Audits will be carried out by an accredited conservator to help smaller AIM members identify key issues and priorities for their museum. Funded by the Pilgrim Trust, the scheme will support museums to care for their collections more effectively and efficiently in the long-term, to meet the standards required for Accreditation and will give museums the option to undertake an audit before making a full application to the AIM Collections Care Grant Scheme. The funded support will be £1,200 plus travel and VAT if necessary to cover the costs of the accredited conservator undertaking the audit

The National Manuscripts Conservation Trust is the only UK grant-giver that focuses solely on the care and conservation of manuscripts in the UK. Grants of £2,000 to £10,000 are available for the cost of repair, binding and other preservation measures, including reprography. Grants may also cover the cost of conservation by commercial conservation studios or the salaries and related expenses of staff specially employed for the project and expendable materials required for the project.

The British Council's Cultural Protection Fund aims to protect cultural heritage in conflict-affected countries. The Fund is designed with UK organisations in mind, but any organisation is eligible to apply. Organisations must be working with; or be in the process of developing partnerships with local partner organisations in one or more of the Fund's current target countries within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, specifically: Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Palestinian Territories, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen. Application for Small Grants will be assessed on a quarterly basis.

Through the scheme, theatres run by charities and not-for-profit groups can apply for grants of up to £5,000 in order to carry out capital improvements to enhance their work within the local community. The type of works that can be funded include urgent building repairs; environmental improvements; works to enhance physical accessibility, etc. Applicants have to own or manage theatres with titles or signed leases of more than 5 years on buildings in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Applicants also need to clearly demonstrate the value capital improvements to their theatres would make to their work in local communities.

The War Memorials Trust runs a number of different grant schemes, which provide support to projects that aim to repair, conserve and preserve the war memorials in their existing form as well as reinstate the memorial in its original design. The Trust only offers grants to projects that relate to existing war memorials and not for the creation of new war memorials or projects for which work has already started and/or is completed. Graves of any type are not eligible for support under any of the schemes. The grant scheme applicants will need to apply for will depend on where in the UK the memorial is located and whether it is freestanding or not and what work needs doing.

The Funding for Museums and Galleries programme aims to support museums and galleries undertaking projects to improve the display and interpretation of nationally significant collections for the public. Grants are generally awarded towards refurbishing or creating new galleries and, occasionally, education and learning spaces. Funding of up to £500,000 is available to registered or exempt charities (or equivalent) or local authorities. The project should aim to produce one or more of the following outcomes: Excellent interpretation of permanent collections of national significance; Better public engagement with and understanding of collections; Increased numbers of visitors to museums and galleries; Improved future sustainability of the organisation; Conservation of architectural heritage.

Grants of £10,000 to £500,000 are available to owners via The Historic Scotland Historic Building Repair Grants Scheme, to meet the cost of high-quality repairs using traditional materials and specialist craftsman to conserve original features in buildings of special architectural or historic interest. In return, owners must insure and maintain the building and allow some access to visitors.  Buildings must be of sufficient outstanding architectural or historic interest; the building must be at serious risk from neglect or repair; and a need for grant for repairs to be undertaken must be demonstrated.

The Idlewild Trust is a grant making organisation that supports registered charities concerned with the encouragement of the performing and fine arts and crafts, the advancement of education within the arts and the preservation for the benefit of the public of lands, buildings and other objects of beauty or historic interest in the United Kingdom. The Trust awards around £140,000 each year in grants and considers making grants of up to £5,000. In 2020 Idlewild Trust awarded 33 grants totalling £128,055, an average of nearly £3,880.

The South Square Trust Fund awards grants for general charitable purposes and supports a number of schools and colleges offering courses in the fine, performing and applied arts. The Trustees assist individuals through direct scholarships to a number of Schools. Individual awards can be used to help with paying fees or for living expenses but no assistance is given for the purchase of equipment, private lessons or travel outside of the UK.   Preference is given to students who have been mainly educated in the UK, those looking for third year undergraduate or post graduate funding and individuals attending a course in the UK.

The Rayne Foundation offers grants to tackle entrenched social issues through the arts, health, wellbeing, and education. The foundation has a particular focus on connecting communities, building bridges between marginalised groups and mainstream society, and enabling individuals to reach their full potential. The annual grant making programme is in the region of £1.5 million and grants typically fall in the range of £10,000 to £20,000 per annum for up to three years. Funding is available both for capital and revenue expenditure.