Application guidance

Our funding

The National Heritage Memorial Fund exists as a fund of last resort to support the UK’s most outstanding heritage, which is at risk of loss. It also exists to create a publicly accessible and timeless collection as a memorial for those who have given their lives for the UK.

The Memorial Fund receives grant in aid funding from central government. We use this funding to award grants to UK based organisations to safeguard heritage in perpetuity.

What we fund

What can be included

We can help with the purchase, conservation or preservation of any heritage which meets our assessment standards.

For example: 

  • works of fine and decorative art
  • museum collections
  • archives
  • manuscripts
  • items of industrial, transport and maritime heritage
  • historic buildings
  • land
  • archaeology

What can’t be included

Whilst we can help with the purchase, conservation and preservation of any heritage, we cannot fund:

  • items that have already been purchased, or that have been secured with a down payment or deposit
  • yearly revenue funding
  • day-to-day running costs or ongoing maintenance
  • the costs of payroll staff
  • development studies
  • research projects
  • costs of general furniture, fittings and equipment

Your contribution

You must be able to prove that you have explored, or are exploring, all other possible sources of funding. If applicable, you must be able to tell us why you cannot raise any other funds.

The Memorial Fund can only fund the total cost of your project in exceptional circumstances. 

Who we fund

Who can apply

We fund organisations who are able to care for the heritage forever and provide public access to it.

We can provide grants to:

  • local authorities
  • other public sector organisations, such as a school or a university
  • some not-for-profit organisations which are not in the public sector

Who can’t apply

We can’t provide grants to:

  • private individuals
  • commercial businesses

Partnerships

You may wish to deliver your project in partnership with other organisations. You will need to tell us about these organisations and their contribution to your project.

Our assessment standards

For your project to be eligible for support from the Memorial Fund it must meet our assessment standards. If you cannot show us how your project strongly meets these standards, we will not be able to fund it. 

Importance to UK heritage

Your project must involve objects, collections, buildings or land that are of particular importance to UK heritage. Any type of heritage can be funded, but we will not normally consider heritage which is less than 10 years old, since it is generally difficult to judge the importance of such items.

We understand the importance of heritage to be its value to past, current and future generations. This value may be due to archaeological, architectural, scientific, technological, natural, artistic, cultural or historic importance. We consider that if a heritage item is important to the heritage of any one of the four nations it is of importance to UK heritage. 

Some categories of heritage are designated. Where designations apply, we take these into account as indicating the importance of the heritage. These include; Grade I and II* (category A and B+) listed buildings, Registered Parks and Gardens, Scheduled Monuments, Designated Collections (Recognised Collections), National Parks and Landscapes, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), National Historic Fleet vessels.

We also take into account other measures of importance where these exist and where they reflect high heritage importance and a strong connection to UK culture. We consider applications for heritage items which are available to acquire through the government processes of Treasure or Export Deferral, but our funding standards are different from the criteria of these schemes.

The Memorial Fund is not limited to support of designated heritage. We understand that important heritage may have no formal designation or recognition, including heritage of Communal Value and Intangible Cultural Heritage. Applications must demonstrate that the heritage is of importance to the UK, rather than of importance on a local or regional level.

Outstanding interest

The heritage for which you are seeking our support must be in some way outstanding. This could be because of rarity, quality, or association with a historic figure or event.

Some examples are:

  • Land of outstanding scientific, scenic, ecological, archaeological or historic interest, or land you wish to buy to protect an outstanding building or area.
  • Buildings of outstanding aesthetic (pleasing to look at), architectural, historic, engineering or scientific interest, including bridges, piers and other built structures.
  • Objects of outstanding aesthetic, historic, artistic, technological, archaeological or scientific interest. These include works of fine and decorative art, textiles, books, manuscripts and objects such as motor cars or ships.
  • Collections of objects which, taken as a whole, demonstrate outstanding scientific, historic or artistic interest. We will consider whether it is important to keep a collection of objects together to maintain important historic connections and the completeness of a historic entity. 

At risk

The role of the Memorial Fund is to preserve the UK’s heritage by saving important heritage that is at risk of loss. You must be able to demonstrate that the heritage in question is at risk of loss should your application not be funded.

Risk of loss could mean the risk of physical loss through destruction or deterioration of the heritage. It could also mean the loss of the heritage to UK public appreciation, through it leaving the UK and/or publicly accessible heritage being lost to public view. 

Last resort

The Memorial Fund acts as a fund of last resort. Applications must demonstrate that all other possible sources of support have been explored and show why these have not been possible, including The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Applications should show that support from the Memorial Fund is the last chance for the heritage to be safeguarded.

Examples of approaching the Memorial Fund as a last resort may include; where pressing timescales attached to your proposal for safeguarding heritage rule out other funding options, where Memorial Fund support is needed to kickstart a challenging fundraising campaign, where our support is needed to close a final funding gap or where a complex set of circumstances and risks rules out other funding support. Applications must always demonstrate that other funding options have been explored.

Further information

Costs and whether your proposal is realistic

We need to know that your project costs and plan are realistic, and that you can offer secure long term care for heritage you wish to acquire or safeguard through emergency repairs or other works. All applications must reflect that the project is deliverable, will achieve value for money and provide long term sustainability for the heritage in order to demonstrate that Memorial Fund support will safeguard heritage for future generations. 

Costs

For acquisition proposals the price of the heritage you wish to buy must not exceed the current market value. Memorial Fund cannot support projects where you propose to pay more than the heritage is worth in order to secure it. You must commission an independent valuation to include with your application which should reflect that the purchase price you propose represents the item’s market value. As part of our assessment we will commission our own valuations to confirm this.

Valuations are not required for Export Deferred items or those declared Treasure as the value has already been fixed by a panel of independent experts. If you are applying to purchase heritage through a private treaty sale your valuation must show that the gross price on which the calculation is based represents the item’s market value.

For projects involving capital works, such as emergency repairs, salvage or transportation of a heritage item, you must demonstrate that the costs of those works have been fully and accurately estimated. If your project involves capital works your application must include a clear and realistic cost plan and timetable informed by professional advice which takes into account any necessary statutory approvals or planning consents.  

Proposal, or project scope

The Memorial Fund gives grants to preserve heritage for the UK in perpetuity, forming a permanent collection as a memorial to those who have given their lives for the UK. We expect you to be able to demonstrate that you can provide an appropriate, permanent and secure ownership for anything that you wish to purchase or that our funding supports, and that you are able to maintain and care for it forever.

Where you are acquiring heritage your application must show how you will deliver its ongoing care and conservation, with appropriate expertise to ensure the physical condition of the heritage is maintained for the long term. 

If your application is for emergency safeguarding work you must show that these works are urgently necessary to prevent the loss of the heritage you are seeking support for. The Memorial Fund can support repairs, and in some cases transport costs, needed to prevent further deterioration and bring heritage into a steady state. Non-urgent conservation and restoration works are not costs that Memorial Fund can usually support, as these should be part of a longer term project.

Applications should demonstrate that the risks of project delivery and long term management have been considered and mitigated as far as possible. You should show how you will continue to review and manage risks through project delivery and following completion.

Financial need

You must demonstrate that you have made efforts to secure funding from all other possible sources including your own organisation. The Memorial Fund is a fund of last resort and has limited resources. Although we do not have rules for partnership funding we will only pay for the total cost of a project or acquisition in exceptional cases. We give higher priority to applications meeting our essential standards which also demonstrate that every effort has been made to reduce the level of grant request to the Memorial Fund.

Public access

Memorial Fund support will always require public access to the heritage we fund. We expect that an aim of your project will be to increase public access to, and engagement with, the heritage your project focuses on. We welcome applications which propose a varied range of physical and virtual access and which aim to engage a diverse range of people with the heritage.

In some cases an object may be too fragile for long term display, or unrestricted access to land or a building could put it at risk. In these cases you should explain how you will provide alternative forms of public access to the item when it is not available for physical public access. 

Apply for funding

Expression of Interest

You must first submit an Expression of Interest through our online service. 

You will be asked to provide brief information about your proposed project and how it will meet our assessment standards.

You must answer all the relevant questions and, if appropriate, provide any supporting documents.

We will review your Expression of Interest and aim to provide feedback within 10 working days. 

If your project timescale allows, your Expression of Interest will also be discussed by our Memorial Fund Panel. The Panel provide advice on which applications to prioritise. 

If a full application is recommended, you will be invited to apply.  

If you are not invited to make a full application, we will explain our reason why. 

Application

If you are invited to apply, you must submit an application through our online service. 

You will be asked to provide detailed information about your project and how it will meet our assessment standards. You must answer all the relevant questions and provide the required supporting documents.

Once you submit your application, we will check we have everything we need to make an assessment and will let you know when you can expect a decision. We will not be able to start assessing your application until we have all the information we need, as well as the required supporting documents.

Assessment process

We will assess your application against our assessment standards.

If your application does not meet all of our assessment standards, it is unlikely to be successful. 

Assessment time

We aim to assess your application and let you know the decision within six months.

If your application requires an urgent decision, we may be able to assess your application and let you know the decision within three months. 

In exceptionally urgent cases, we may be able to assess your application and let you know a decision in less than three months. We call this a fast track application. We can only accept fast track applications if we consider the project straightforward. 

An application may be considered urgent if:

  • it includes an auction sale
  • there is an Export Deferral
  • it includes declared Treasure

Decisions

Decisions on applications are made by our Board of Trustees. 

The Board of Trustees usually meet six times a year. Applications are scheduled for decision at the most appropriate Board meeting.

If your application is successful

We will prepare a grant contract setting out our terms of grant, which your organisation must comply with and sign.

Once the grant contract is in place, you will need to complete the permission to start process. Read our Receiving a grant guidance to find out more. 

If your application is unsuccessful

The assessment process is competitive and we cannot fund all the applications that we receive. We will let you know the reason why your application was unsuccessful and, where we can, provide further advice. 

Ready to start your application? 

Read our guidance on completing an Expression of Interest.