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Eligibility
Engagement Grants are open to archivists and heritage professionals working with archival collections in England or Wales. In this grant, we cannot fund organisations based in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or whose collections are held outside of the United Kingdom.
The programme is open to all public sector bodies, not-for-profit organisations including registered charities, and for-profit organisations including business archives. Funding is not available to private individuals.
We use the definition of an archive collection as given within the Archive Service Accreditation Scheme:
“Materials created or received by a person, family or organisation, public or private, in the conduct of their affairs and preserved because of the enduring value contained in them or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator, especially those materials maintained using the principles of provenance, original order and collective control; permanent records.”
Society of American Archivists
Where appropriate, archives are encouraged to propose partnership projects and consortium applications are particularly welcome in this programme.
Repeat applications are not possible for this programme. However, the panel will endeavour to provide constructive feedback that enables positive solutions and clear next steps, for both successful and unsuccessful applications. There are no restrictions on institutions submitting an application for a different project than was previously assessed.
Timetable
Engagement Grants will run periodically, typically as connected to cultural moments of national significance. The next round of Engagement Grants will be announced later in 2024.
Finance and budgeting
Eligible costs for the programme include (but are not limited to) exhibitions, events, online or digital engagement, materials, staff time, travel and subsistence, and materials or software as needed to deliver the project.
The programme cannot fund:
- Overheads, full cost recovery or management fees
- Collections acquisition
- Costs incurred prior to the date of any award offer from us
- The core work of an archive service
The grant may not be used for the following purposes: payments that support activity intended to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action.
Assessment process
Engagement Grants have a single-stage application process, completed online.
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- Impact: on archive and users
- Delivery and management
- Knowledge sharing
In question 8, the project description, please do explain how the grant reflects the theme.
See our Assessment Criteria for Further Guidance:
Engagement Grants – Assessment Criteria
Each application will be scored numerically against the criteria above, according to the following scale:
| Score | Rating |
| 1 | Poor |
| 2 | Low |
| 3 | Good |
| 4 | Excellent |
| 5 | Outstanding |
Applications are assessed by a panel of archive and engagement experts, from The National Archives. The panel members are:
Jonathan Ladd, Head of Programmes and Advocacy – The National Archives
Lily Colgan – Acadmic Engagement Officer – The National Archives
Lucy Blackburn – Visitor Experience Assistant – The National Archives
There will also be representatives from The National Archives Marketing and Communications and Public Engagement Teams.
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.