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People: Funding for Activities that Help People Understand and Champion the Historic Environment
Grants for activities that help people understand and champion the historic environment through engagement, skills, training, education and heritage project-based posts.
Levels of funding
The information below gives a general idea of the level of grant funding which might typically be given for different types of People activity. You can find more detail about the eligible People activities further down below.
- Grants over £100,000 typically involve projects such as sector training and skills programmes, or similar national capacity building projects, where a funding contribution is required to support delivery over more than one year
- Grants over £30,000 typically involve projects focused on specific training and knowledge sharing activities, or temporary posts to support the sector
- Grants up to £30,000 typically involve local community engagement, educational and youth heritage projects
We encourage you to think carefully about the level of funding you are seeking and consider whether funding from other sources might also be available to support your project, in addition to a Historic England grant.
What types of activity does Historic England fund?
We fund a range of activities.
For skills and training, education and heritage project-based posts, eligible activities include:
Development of heritage construction skills and other knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to understand, manage, conserve, and promote the historic environment. This includes training and workforce development activities, partnerships with further and higher education institutions, employers and training providers, and initiatives that build skills and capacity across the historic environment sector.
Applicants are encouraged to consider the priorities identified in the Historic Environment Skills and Careers Action Plan for England (HESCAPE) when developing expressions of interest (EOIs). Please see the Understanding Heritage Construction Skills web page for further information.
Promoting best practices in conservation, documentation, interpretation, and sustainable management of resources. This may involve technical helplines, toolkits, learning, and conferences for ongoing professional development.
Time limited roles focused on specific goals that support management and delivery in key areas. Examples include Network Support Officers, Place of Worship Support Officers, and Heritage at Risk roles. These are typically posts for a maximum of three years to provide new capacity to complement existing job roles. We would hope to see these posts evolve into permanent additional capacity where appropriate, funded by the grant recipient.
Projects that support organisations and communities to champion and develop the conservation and enhancement of the historic environment.
This can include creating sustainable business models, adapting to change, and reducing dependence on a single funding source to enable long-term resilience.
For engagement projects, eligible activities include:
Projects which support community organisations and members of the community to engage with heritage and the historic environment. We would expect projects to strengthen direct links between people and local heritage places and assets, with an emphasis on co-creative approaches that deliver clear community and historic environment benefits. We also support empowering communities by engaging local people in decisions that are being taken about their heritage.
Engagement projects that help the heritage sector to understand and respond to the perspectives of diverse communities, ensuring greater inclusion and representation.
Projects including those that reach schools and young people outside of formal education settings.
Intangible cultural heritage
Historic England recognises the importance of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Central to many forms of ICH are the places in which traditions, practices, skills and cultural expressions are created, maintained and passed on.
Historic England's interest in ICH is therefore focused on where it strongly contributes to the character, identity and significance of a historic place, or where it is strongly associated with a particular historic place.
Funding for intangible cultural heritage activity may also be supported where it clearly contributes to the protection, stewardship or long-term care of a heritage asset or historic place.
Are there any activities that Historic England does not fund?
For skills and training, education and heritage project-based posts, we do not fund:
- Capacity maintenance, including posts or activities which are part of an organisation's core activity
- Non-heritage/generic skills (such as digital skills) where Historic England grants would not be impactful
- Activities delivered by ministerial departments and Arm’s Length Bodies sponsored by DCMS
- PhD activities or students enrolled in, or intending to enrol in, higher education courses. Find information on our separate AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme
- Projects without a defined end date
For engagement projects, we do not fund the following activities:
- Engagement activity that is unrelated to a historic place or the heritage sector and/or which does not provide benefits for the historic environment
- Projects focused around creating museum exhibits or repairing, restoring or otherwise undertaking work on artefacts, chattels or mobile assets like steam engines, planes and boats
- Projects that are mainly based on social and/or leisure activities such as excursions, tours, fairs and concerts
- Projects without a defined end date
There are also other types of expenditure that we do not provide grants for. Read more about Ineligible Expenditure
I meet all the eligibility criteria and additional criteria for the activity that I need funding for. Does that mean I will be successful and awarded a grant?
No, unfortunately we are unable to fund everyone who meets our criteria. We have a set amount of funding available each year and assess each application against how well it meets our grant priorities and Historic England’s wider strategic plan. Applying for a grant is a competitive process.
Ready to find out if a Historic England Grant might be suitable for your project?
Please complete an EOI form for our grants team to assess.
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