The British Council has announced that the £30m Cultural Protection Fund to protect heritage overseas will be open for applications on the 27 June and launched a dedicated website offering further information about the Fund and how to register your interest in applying.
The British Council writes:
‘Our objective for the new £30 million fund is to help to create opportunities for economic and social development through building capacity to foster, safeguard and promote cultural heritage in conflict-affected regions overseas.
The intrinsic value of cultural heritage is immeasurable. Socially, it can embody the identities and histories of people and communities to support post-war recovery through cohesion and wellbeing. Economically, cultural heritage sites and buildings can provide opportunities for sustainable development, tourism and regeneration.
Initially the Fund will be focussed on UK organisations working in partnership with bodies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, specifically Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Palestinian Territories, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen.
Fund Design
The Cultural Protection Fund will invite applications for both smaller projects, grants under 100K, and larger projects, grants over 100k. It will be a two stage process. Applicants will be asked to complete an Expression of Interest Form, to confirm eligibility, before being invited to complete a full Application Form. These forms will be available to download on this webpage from 27 June.
It will be essential for applicants to have existing partners in the target countries. Information on the experience and credentials of these partnerships, as well as a strong knowledge and understanding of local context, will need to be provided.
Applicants will need to provide a clear project plan and timeline, evidence of demand and delivery capability including a full budget breakdown, and information on how security risks will be managed monitored and evaluated.
It will be possible to apply for multi-year grants and the anticipated maximum for any such application will be £3m. The anticipated maximum for an application in any one round will be £500K.
Timeline 2016
In the fund’s first year, there will be only one funding round for larger project applications. The deadline will be at the end of August, with the intention that awards will be made at the end of October / November 2016.
Rolling assessments will take place for smaller project applications in August, October and December 2016.
In order to strengthen the knowledge base for the Fund, British Council and DCMS have agreed to commission detailed country surveys in the first year. The surveys will provide information about needs, existing activity and potential partners. It will inform assessment and evaluation as well as supporting applicants to develop relevant and impactful projects
2017 onwards
There will be two grant application rounds for larger project applications in each financial year. Other than in the first year, the awards will be made for larger projects at the beginning of April and October in each financial year. In order to ensure maximum time for applicants to put together proposals, the rounds will open in proceeding September and March.
For smaller project applications will be reviewed on a rolling assessment programme every quarter (September, December, April and July).
If you have any questions, or would like to be notified once the Fund’s application forms go live, please email culturalprotection@britishcouncil.org.
Download the report of the consultation which informed the Fund
