The National Archives is launching a rolling programme of Records at Risk grants, designed to provide support for urgent, short-notice interventions to save historic records, in both physical and digital formats, that face immediate peril.
The fund will address and seek to safeguard at-risk collections for the nation. Its overall objective is to provide an additional mechanism to protect records of cultural and research value from premature destruction or prolonged neglect. Its focus will be on records and services that are not protected by legislation, such as archives of businesses, charities and private individuals.
This will be a flexible grants programme, open to applications on a rolling basis and available for rapid distribution. You will be able to apply for interventions of up to £5,000 and will receive a quick response to your enquiry.
The safeguarding of records may take a variety of forms depending on the circumstances of each case. Example interventions include conservation and research prior to major decisions being made about the acquisition or disposal of a major collection, and the provision of removal and temporary storage costs for a collection facing immediate risk, in the case of an archive service being willing to receive it, but unable to do so immediately.
Governance and administration of the Fund
To enable quick decision making, applications will be reviewed by a team of expert panellists The National Archives in consultation with partners drawn from the membership of the Records at Risk Steering Group (under the auspices of The British Records Association, Business Archives Council and the Archives and Records Association). This panel will have responsibility for approving applications as well as to providing constructive feedback on proposed interventions.