Application process
Application forms are submitted via SmartSurvey and are available here. Applicants are also requested to complete and submit a copy of the Archives Service Resilience Indicator tool. Applications will close on Tuesday 31st January 2023
The National Archives’ Grants and Funding Office will review applications to ensure they meet eligibility requirements, before sharing with the panel. The criteria for assessment can be found below.
Assessment Criteria
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria: please read this carefully and use the following guidance to make your case as strong as possible. Applicants who do not consider the criteria are unlikely to be successful.
- Need: We are seeking to fund projects that clearly articulate why and how the funded activities will build resilience and why that is needed. Proposals that explain what challenge or opportunity the intervention will seek to address are more likely to receive funding (25%).
- Impact: We are looking to fund proposals which will have a real, demonstrable, effect on archives to ensure that collections continue to be cared for and accessible. Therefore applicants should ensure that they detail the impact on both the organisation and the users of the archive in their responses. Please do consider questions of diversity and inclusion in your answers (25%)
- Sustainability and Legacy: An essential element of building resilience is the sustainability of solutions. We are looking to fund projects that consider how the effects of the intervention will last beyond the funded activities and create a legacy of change. Please consider how the proposal will contribute to your archive’s continued sustainability and where appropriate, the environmental impact and costs of delivering the solutions (25%).
- Deliverability: Projects must be achievable, and we will seek to fund projects with clear costings and project plans. Your answers should indicate that you have a considered, informed solution and the technical resources to implement it. While you do not need to provide quotes or confirmation of prices, your budget will be assessed for reasonableness of costings and proportionality, costs that do not contribute to solutions will not be considered eligible and may be excluded from any agreed funding (25%).
Applicant details
1. Name of Applicant Organisation
2. Name and position of lead contact
3. Telephone number and email address
4. Postal address
5. Project start date (not before 1st April 2023)
6. Project end date
7. Applicant organisation’s status g. custodian or collecting institution.
If relevant, please explain the ownership of the collection (e.g. owned/donation/deposit), and provide details of the owner if the collection is deposited.
Supporting statement
8. Please provide a short introduction to your organisation and archive collection, including:
- how your archive is managed
- your access to professional archive expertise
- how you make the archive accessible to people outside of your organisation
- the nature and significance of the collection(s), including its level of usage
(maximum 400 words, not scored)
9. Need: please describe, with reference to the Archives Service Resilience Indicator as appropriate, the key resilience needs of your organisation (maximum 400 words)
10. Impact: please describe your proposed project, and how it seeks to impactfully address the needs above.
Please use bullet points if that is useful way of presenting your information (maximum 400 words).
11. Sustainability and Legacy: please describe how your project will create a legacy of change for your organisation, contributing to sustainable risk management, future public access and (if appropriate) environmental sustainability (maximum 400 words).
12. Deliverability: please provide:
- A short summary of the project plan, with any key milestones (200 words)
- Your total funding request in GBP, with a breakdown of your budget (200 words)
- The maximum funding awarded will be £15,000 (but may be less)
Supporting Documents
Please attached your completed copy of the Archives Service Resilience Indicator. You may also attach any other supporting documents that you feel would enhance your application, for example a letter of commitment from the head of your organisation, or letters of support from other stakeholders. These are not mandatory and will not be scored.
By submitting your Archives Service Resilience Indicator, you are consenting to your responses being used, in an anonymised and aggregated fashion, by The National Archives for analysis purposes.
No individual or individual organisation will be identifiable within these analyses, and the indicator will not be used for monitoring or assessing any individual archive, except for the purposes of this application.
The National Archives will share the results of any analysis with all applicants who have kindly submitted their data.