Museums and galleries

Arts Council England will be awarding a maximum of £250 million in grants ranging between £25,000 and £3 million to cultural organisations able to evidence the need for financial support.

Is my organisation eligible?

In order to be considered for support, the lead organisation – submitting the application – must demonstrate that it is based in England (or that the majority of its work takes place in England) and should fall within one of the following categories:

  • limited companies registered at Companies House
  • community interest companies (CICs) registered with the CIC regulator
  • charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission
  • charitable companies or charitable trusts registered with the Charity Commission
  • limited liability partnerships registered at Companies House
  • partnerships established under a partnership deed/ agreement
  • community benefit and co-operative societies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
  • Royal Charter bodies
  • statutory bodies and other public bodies including Universities and Local Authorities who run or maintain cultural services
  • Heritage organisations with a museum with either Accredited or working towards Accreditation status

Applications can be made by organisations that have already received Round One Culture Recovery Fund support, but limits apply. The maximum amount any institution can receive in combined total across all rounds is £3 million.

If a grant application would take an organisation over this figure it may be that the only support available will be via the Fund’s Repayable Finance Round Two section.

To apply for grant support organisations will be required to submit at least two years’ accounts (3 if applying for over £1 million) to their regulatory body and ensure these are publicly available online.

Then, to progress the application, a user account and applicant profile must be set up on submission programme Grantium.

The deadline to have completed application for Round Two grants is 12pm (midday) on Tuesday 26th January 2021.

To start an application or read further information, click here.

Heritage organisations

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing up to £36 million ringfenced for heritage organisations, with grants of between £10,000 and £3 million being made available to support businesses prior to full reopening.

Is my organisation eligible?

Applications are being accepted from businesses that own, work with or manage heritage in England. While not exhaustive, organisations that fall within this category include:

  • Not for profit organisations that manage heritage sites, venues or attractions
  • Local authorities, universities and other public sector bodies that manage heritage sites, venues or attractions
  • Private owners of nationally significant heritage sites, venues or attractions that are normally open to the public at least 28 days a year or which host public events
  • For profit businesses that are a vital part of the heritage ecosystem and who generate the largest portion of their income from heritage work. This includes conservators, contractors, specialists, suppliers and cooperatives
  • Organisations that manage culturally significant assets or collections
  • Organisations that provide significant support to the heritage sector
  • Faith organisations that manage listed places of worship
  • Non accredited museums.

Applicants must be properly constituted as an organisation. The kinds of organisations that are eligible include:

  • Limited Companies registered at Companies House
  • Community Interest Companies (CICs) registered with the CIC regulator
  • Charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission
  • Charitable companies or charitable trusts registered with the Charity Commission
  • Limited liability partnerships registered at Companies House
  • Partnerships established under a partnership deed/ agreement
  • Community benefit and co-operative societies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
  • Royal Charter bodies
  • Private owners of nationally-significant heritage sites, venues or attractions which are normally open to the public 28 days a year or more or which regularly host events attended by members of the public

Accounts for the financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20 and working management accounts will need to be provided to National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of all applications up to £1 million. Figures for 2017/18 will also be required for applications over the £1 million mark.

A completed Business Action Plan will also form part of the application process, with links to all supporting documents available via the National Lottery Heritage Fund website.

The deadline to have completed application for Round Two grants is 2pm on 26th January 2021, with all decisions set to be finalised and communicated to applicants by the end of March 2021.

To start an application or read further information, click here.

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