Context and Scope
Archives Revealed is the only grant programme in the United Kingdom (UK) dedicated to the unlocking of archival collections. The programme is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and The National Archives. The goal of Archives Revealed is to ensure that significant archive collections, representing the lives and perspective of all people across the UK, are made accessible to the public for research and enjoyment.
This funding programme provides grants of up to £50,000 for the cataloguing of archive collections, with at least 20% of each award reserved for public engagement activities.
Cataloguing is the process of writing detailed descriptions of the records that you are managing and how they relate to each other. It enables the records to be searched for and interacted with, using descriptions and titles within catalogues allowing individuals to find specific items of interest. Cataloguing can:
- give you greater intellectual control over collections, creating accurate descriptions and understanding the content and potential of what you hold
- allow you to identify preservation/conservation needs
- widen access to descriptions and awareness of the collections themselves
- enable you to contribute data to archive networks
- provide a foundation for engagement with new and existing audiences
For further information on cataloguing please see: Cataloguing archive collections – Archives sector (nationalarchives.gov.uk) which contains detailed guidance on cataloguing.
Further resources on access, participation and engagement can be found on The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s website – you may wish to consult guidance on interpretation, inclusion and the Heritage Fund’s investment principle on inclusion, access and participation.
Archives Revealed Cataloguing Grants funds projects lasting for up to two years from the date of award. The grant usually pays for a trained, professional archivist to work with the collection, as well as now providing funding for public engagement activities. The fund can be used for complementary activities in the cataloguing process, such as the provision of storage materials, however, this should not be the focus of the application.
Programme Overview
Archives Revealed Cataloguing Grants offer funding of up to £50,000 for archive services to create catalogues of their archival collections. At least 20% of each grant value awarded is required to be spent on engagement activities with the public. The grant will fund projects lasting up to two years.
The aims of the Cataloguing Grant programme are to:
- Increase access to previously unavailable archive material.
- Increase engagement with archive collections by a wider audience.
- Enable deeper use of archive material to further understanding of collections.
- Increase confidence and skills of archivists to enable them to successfully secure income to fund archive development.
The Cataloguing Grant programme runs twice per year, usually opening in the autumn and spring. It has a single-stage application process.
The programme is highly competitive: we typically receive 80-100 applications and will award around 15 grants in each grant-making round. Please ensure that you read the instructions below before applying for funding. Should you have any questions then you can contact the Archives Revealed team via email: archivegrants@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
If you have any questions about Archives Revealed Cataloguing Grants, please contact us via email: archivegrants@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes providing support, in the form of reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. You must contact us as early as possible in the application process. We recommend contacting us at least 15 working days before the competition closing date, to ensure that we can provide you with the most suitable support possible. You can contact us by emailing archivegrants@nationalarchives.gov.uk.