Everyday Heritage Grants: Celebrating Working Class Histories

The ways we mark and recognise the past in our public spaces are a powerful and emotive tool for understanding and interpreting history, but not everyone’s stories are told and not everyone’s history is remembered.

The Everyday Heritage Grant projects will help us to further our collective understanding of the past. They are designed to build on Historic England’s commitment to inclusion, diversity and equality of opportunity in all our work. You can find out more in our Strategy for Inclusion, Diversity and Equality.

The grants are for projects that focus on heritage connecting people to historic places, specifically those people and places that are overlooked or underrepresented.

Building on the success of our first round of Everyday Heritage Grants in 2022, we continue to be interested in projects that celebrate working class histories and the historic places that make up everyday life.

We want to fund projects that recognise and/or celebrate:

• Places where ordinary people work and live
• Working class communities
• Work and workers
• People from lower socio-economic backgrounds
• Heritage related to places with low social mobility
• Leisure and pastimes for working class people
• Social housing
• Industrial heritage
• Community heritage
• Rural stories
• Coastal towns

As a result of this work:

• Heritage and stories that have been overlooked will be recognised and revealed
• Buildings, historic sites, places or local areas will be the inspiration for exploring people’s stories
• People will have the opportunity to tell their own stories, in their own way
• Local people will have the opportunity to connect with people in their community
• Local people will have been involved throughout the process
• People will have a greater understanding and enjoyment of the diversity of heritage around them

✔ All organisations and individuals are eligible to apply including community interest groups, charities and local authorities.

✔ We are especially interested in applications from groups and individuals that are not heritage organisations but can deliver heritage projects. While we are willing to fund proposals with links to established heritage institutions, we are especially interested in funding community led

✔ We are particularly interested in supporting projects that represent diverse and minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people and disabled and neurodiverse people.

✔ We will consider applications from previous Everyday Heritage Grants recipients, providing the project is not an extension or continuation of the previously funded project. Applicants will need to work on a new project, celebrating a different story and place, ideally with different outcomes or approaches.

✔ Previous unsuccessful applicants are also welcome to apply but projects will need to take into account the changes to the criteria for the second round.

x Please note these grants are not designed to fund reinterpretation of museum collections, but rather are to fund projects to uncover people’s stories in relation to buildings or historic places or sites. The buildings or sites do not need to be listed for applications to be eligible for a grant. By listed, we mean any building, site or place which is protected, either by Historic England, or on a local list.

x These grants are not for capital work – by capital work, we mean construction, modifications or renovations to the structure of a building or place

x We will not fund any projects where the only outcome is a book or other printed publication.

Use this checklist to ensure your project is eligible.

• Does your project relate to working class histories?
• Does your project have a strong connection to place? (buildings, historic sites or places)
• Will your project cost up to £25,000? Please note we are also looking to fund a number of smaller projects under £10,000.
• Does your project centre around co-creation?
• Does your project take into consideration barriers to access and how to overcome these?
• Will your project encourage communities and local people to learn more about their local historic places and tell their own stories about them in their own ways?
• Will your project have a positive impact on participants?

Please note:

Grants will be administered via standard Historic England grant funding agreements. If you are a sole trader, rather than a limited company, association or partnership, you will need to complete an Employment Status Questionnaire (a requirement of Historic England by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) and provide confirmation from HMRC of your registered self-employed status.

All applicants funded by Historic England must be IR35 compliant. This means that contractors should be able to demonstrate that the correct tax is paid, and that National Insurance Contributions are attributed correctly.

Should your proposal be successful, it is Historic England’s standard anti-fraud procedure to ask any new payee to provide us with confirmation of the bank details that funds are to be paid into on a document issued by the bank, such as a paying-in slip or a bank statement with any sensitive information redacted.

• We have a total budget of £400,000 for this work
• We will accept proposals for projects with costs of up to £25,000 but we are particularly keen to fund a number of smaller projects up to £10,000
• Projects at a lower cost will not automatically be looked at more favourably, the overall strength of the project is the key factor
• We do not require match funding, but partnership funding or in-kind/volunteer contributions are encouraged
• Please don’t add contingency to your budget. Possible contingencies should be identified in the risk log and necessary funds can be applied for later via Historic England’s Variation Request process

Assessment criteria for proposals will be based on:

• How the project reveals overlooked working class heritage stories
• Whether the project has a strong connection to a building or buildings, historic site or place
• The extent to which the project is meaningfully co-created with communities
• How you have demonstrated that you will overcome barriers for participation and engagement
• How your project will positively impact on people who are involved in it
• Realistic and achievable methods which will deliver the aims and outcomes
• Realistic costs, timescale, and value for money

1. Read through this document and the application form
2. Check that your idea is eligible for funding against the eligibility checklist
3. Complete the application form in your preferred format*
4. Complete the costs outline spreadsheet
5. Submit your application

* you can submit your application form and budget spreadsheet (we will not be accepting any additional supporting documents) in the following formats:

• By emailing the application form and budget spreadsheet as attachments to [email protected] (our preferred option)
• By printing out your completed application form and budget spreadsheet and posting it to:

Everyday Heritage Grants
Public Engagement
Historic England
4th Floor
Cannon Bridge House
25 Dowgate Hill
London EC4R 2YA

We are happy to make reasonable adjustments to make the application process as accessible as possible.

If you would like to explore alternative ways to apply, please email [email protected]

Projects can start as soon as a contract has been signed and should aim to be complete by May 2025.

Please note, the project does not need to run for the full duration, you may want to start later and/or end sooner.

Proposals must be submitted by 11.59pm, Tuesday 7 November 2023.

Applicants will be informed of the decision in December 2023.

Timeline

Thursday 7 September 2023: Launch of Everyday Heritage Grants

11.59pm, Tuesday 7 November 2023: Closing date – all proposals need to be submitted by this date and time

December 2023: Successful applicants notified, comments and revisions to applications requested if necessary

December 2023: Unsuccessful applicants notified – please note we won’t be able to give feedback due to the anticipated volume of applications

Early 2024: Announcement of successful projects

December 2023 – May 2025: Project delivery

• To have co-creation at their centre
• To allow people to share overlooked or untold stories of the places they live, work and play in creative ways
• To encourage communities and local people to learn more about their local historic places and tell their own stories about them in their own ways
• To contribute positively to participants’ wellbeing and/or health
• To help Historic England to broaden the public’s understanding and knowledge of different types of heritage, and to promote enjoyment of local heritage

✔ Grant recipients must co-create the work with relevant communities; we value the process as much as the outcome

✔ The product and the process must have accessibility at their core, applications should demonstrate consideration of disabilities and other barriers to access

Through these grants we want local and diverse communities to have opportunities to connect with others, to tell stories relating to their places in their own ways, and to be involved throughout the projects.

When we talk about co-creation, we mean:

• Communities must be involved in producing and shaping the outputs of the projects
• Communities are involved in decision making about the subject and processes of a project, and decide what it is they want to get out of it, they might be supported by facilitators to do this
• That projects are built around mutually beneficial relationships between communities, facilitators and contributors
• Where everyone involved plays an active role and their expertise is treated equally
• Where the process is valued as highly as the product
• That everyone involved can feel proud
• That have lasting legacies for those involved

We do not mean:

• Communities are just an audience, or consumers of an output or product
• Communities are just subjects to be interviewed, photographed or filmed
• Communities are invited to participate in admin or support roles, but not helping make decisions and shape the project
• Communities create work (such as artworks) which inform the project, but it is only professionals who make the final product

At Historic England, Active Participation is our strategic approach toward working together with more people, and a more diverse range of people, to take action in support of the historic environment.

We are approaching these grants with the following values:

• Everyone has a right and a role to play in caring for and shaping heritage and our historic environment
• A passion for heritage begins with delight and wonder, not necessarily knowledge and facts
• There are many routes into a passion for, or engagement with, the historic environment and heritage
• People alongside us are a source of energy and fun to help get projects going, and a source of resilience for carrying on

There are many reasons why communities, especially those who are underrepresented in heritage, do not engage or get involved with heritage projects.

These might include:

• Financial barriers (such as the cost of transport, capacity to volunteer their time)
• Physical barriers (such as buildings with no wheelchair access or hearing induction loops)
• Childcare or other caring responsibilities
• Cultural barriers (such as language barriers, or projects which do not include particular cultural or religious considerations)
• Barriers of ‘this is not for me’ (for example: ‘projects like this are not for people like me’, ‘I don’t see anyone that looks like me in heritage, or my local area’ or ‘I’m intimidated because I don’t think I know enough’)
• Technology barriers (for example: access to internet, knowledge of how to use particular software or hardware)

In your application, you will need to demonstrate that you have considered what the potential barriers might be for people to get involved with your project. You don’t need to address all of the above, and we will definitely have missed examples, so just identify the barriers that may apply to your project and explain how you aim to overcome those to ensure as many people as possible are able to get involved.

We want these grants to have benefits for people as well as places. This might include learning new skills, developing social connections, or it could be that the project will positively impact on people’s wellbeing or physical/mental health.
You should base your intended outcomes for participants on the following:

• Local community needs
• Local wellbeing or health priorities
• The needs of particular communities

Read Historic England’s Wellbeing and Heritage Strategy

You can find out about local wellbeing and health needs using public health data and other sources of data about health inequalities (such as through the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities). This could potentially help you understand which communities are most affected by health inequalities in your area.

You could work with local health, VCSE (voluntary, community or social enterprise organisations) and local authority partners to help you understand and address these issues.

You should think about how your project will capture the impact on people’s wellbeing and/or health as a result of their involvement.

We have produced a guidance video which talks through the application process, including completing the form and the budget spreadsheet. You can view it here.

For questions about the project including the application process and deadlines please get in touch by emailing:

[email protected]

Due to the anticipated volume of interest in these grant opportunities, we are unable to take phone calls. Please don’t get in touch with regional offices or customer services, you will get a quicker response if you contact us using the above email address.

You can find the budget spreadsheet here.

The first sheet of the document is a blank spreadsheet to be completed, the second sheet gives an example of a completed spreadsheet, key definitions and frequently asked questions.

Please do not change the formulas in the spreadsheet.

Historic England will develop an approach to evaluate all projects. We will share some simple guidance with grant recipients should you want to evaluate your own projects.

The recipient’s role will be to gather data before, during and after the project. Historic England will confirm the nature of the data we will be asking for and the timetable for collection before projects are underway. Historic England staff will be available to advise and support this data gathering.

We would also like to highlight that your project will be an opportunity for us to evaluate and develop our own understanding and learning of uncovering overlooked heritage as the project progresses.

You will be contacted by Historic England or our evaluation partners to participate in a data gathering exercise or for feedback. This is intended to be light touch and not burdensome on you or your projects.

In your task list, and on the budget spreadsheet, please allow one day to support us with evaluation, and include any other evaluation you may want to conduct yourself.

We ask that you share the news of your project and our funding with people and key stakeholders whenever you can. We encourage grant recipients to publicise their projects by reaching out to the media, promoting on social media (e.g., Twitter/X, Facebook) and contacting your local MP.

We encourage you to do this both during your project and after to celebrate what you have achieved.

Historic England will provide a Communications Toolkit, designed to help you achieve creative and effective publicity for your project.

Please note

The Historic England Media Team will be making a public announcement about the organisations that are successful in receiving grant funding. If you are offered funding and plan to share the news externally about your grant, please do not do so before this Historic England announcement. We will let you know about dates and plans so that we can coordinate, and cross promote.

Grants will be administered by the Historic England Grants Team. Project Assurance and routine monitoring of standards, progress and expenditure will be undertaken by a Historic England Project Assurance Officer (PAO) who will also provide you with guidance throughout the project, but applicants should note the PAO will not manage the project. All proposals should include a named individual, such as the project manager, who is ultimately responsible for the delivery of your project.

You will be expected to produce highlight/progress/risk reports at appropriate points throughout your project as detailed in your agreement. How often you submit these reports will be decided depending on the length and value of your project. We will also expect you to keep accurate financial records of your spend against the budget and to submit a report at the end of the project which includes evaluation and lessons learnt.

Ownership and copyright of project outputs will rest with you; however Historic England will be granted an in perpetuity, royalty free licence to use or sub licence project outputs. Terms of licencing will be agreed in your contract agreement, and are expected to cover a range of uses including:

• Promotion of the project by Historic England online, via social media and in print
• Promotion of the project through the media

Model release forms will be required for anyone taking part in video, audio recordings or photography in line with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Forms can be supplied by Historic England and should be completed and submitted with all final project outputs.

Please note, this section is just for information. We do not expect you to address each of these areas in your application.

As well as directly aligning with our statutory remit to promote the public’s enjoyment of, and advance their knowledge of, heritage and the historic environment, these grants will help to support our Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Strategy. This includes our priority outcome of: ‘A greater diversity of people engage with the historic environment through the work we do and the programmes and organisations we fund’ and our ambition: ‘People from every community will be able to see their own culture and heritage represented in the work of Historic England and feel that the historic environment is relevant to them.’

This work also supports Historic England’s Wellbeing and Heritage Strategy, Future Strategy and Corporate Plan and will deliver against all three of the Future Strategy focus areas: Thriving Places, Connected Communities and Active Participation.

Here are some other ways in which these grants will help to address our corporate priorities. They will:

• Help heritage sector organisations to work more closely and meaningfully with communities
• Build knowledge and skills in communities
• Extend our audience reach
• Increase our relevance and brand awareness
• Create case studies for sharing our knowledge and informing new ways of working
• Help us to continually evolve ways of sharing our work and inspiring people to take action
• Reflect society’s diversity in Historic England programmes and projects
• Help people to make unique memories in the historic environment through participative experiences
• Engage people to see the historic environment as an important part of our everyday lives, and to get involved

Historic England has adopted a Public Value Framework (PVF) to provide assurance to its stakeholders, including the public, that it invests public money in ways that give the most value.

Historic England's Public Value Framework is based on the 2017 report ‘Delivering better outcomes for citizens: practical steps for unlocking public value’ (Barber, Nov 2017). All projects will need to deliver public value.