To Mark the European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH) in 2018, The Heritage Council are focusing on their Community Heritage Grant Scheme on the theme “Make a Connection”, to encourage communities throughout Ireland to build heritage connections that will last long beyond the year.
The scheme aims to:
• promote appreciation and enjoyment of heritage, to make a lasting difference to heritage, people and communities,
• promote a bottom up approach to heritage management, and
• reach out to new audiences by telling heritage stories in innovative ways to stimulate public interest and engagement.
They are looking for creative, engaging projects that provide a way for the public to learn about and manage our natural and cultural heritage. The Heritage Council want you to share your knowledge, project ideas and experiences more widely.
Who can apply?
The scheme is open to:
• not-for-profit voluntary and community groups, and
• heritage-related non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Applications from other organisations or individuals will not be accepted.
Funding available
The Heritage Council has allocated €750,000 to this scheme in 2018. The most you may ask for is 75% of the funding of the total project expenditure, up to a maximum of €8,000. We expect the scheme to be very competitive. We expect to fund about 150 projects this year.
What types of project does this scheme cover?
Here are some examples of projects that the scheme covers.
1. Initiatives designed to support community efforts to learn about and manage heritage, to build up local heritage networks and to attract new participants in heritage projects, and to encourage under-represented groups to share their heritage too.
• Seminars
• Demonstrations days
• Training
• Interpretation
• Community heritage websites
2. Community/NGO-led surveys and audits
• Local heritage audits including wildlife, botany, archaeology, folklore.
• Graveyard surveys.
• Surveys of monuments and their surrounds.
3. Community/NGO-led conservation reports and plans
• Conservation reports.
• Conservation plans.1
• Conservation management plans to inform future works for heritage places.
4. Community/NGO-led conservation works
• Work on habitats and natural sites.
• Work to publically owned buildings for essential, small-scale repairs.
• Works to stabilise medieval and ruined structures.
• Work on objects and collections.
How to apply
You must apply online via The Heritage Councils online grants system. Applications can only be submitted online. They do not provide or accept paper forms. To consider your application, they must receive your online application along with supporting documents by: Friday 9 February 2018 at 5pm. Applications received after this time cannot be considered.
Successful applicants will be notified in the second half of April 2018.
