The fund will support:

• not-for-profit organisations, including those already involved in the promotion of heritage at a community level, and projects led by public sector organisations  
• museums and other indoor venues or attractions with projects that explore the heritage outside their doors. 
• community groups that are not heritage-based but wish to explore and interpret their local heritage by taking a closer look at what is on their doorsteps
• organisations in Wales (including not-for-profit) who care for historic buildings, sites and attractions that open their doors to visitors more than 28 days a year, such as historic places of worship
• private owners of heritage 

Private owners of heritage 

You must make it clear how the public benefit of your heritage project will outweigh any private gain. You will need to show us that your project: 

• will significantly increase public access and public engagement with heritage 
• has clear public enthusiasm and support 
• needs National Lottery investment

The funded activity must be free to access, invite exploration by local community members and try to engage those members of the community who could benefit from it most.

When planning your project, you will need to factor in and follow requirements for social distancing and COVID-related measures required by Welsh Government.

You should ensure that any proposed activity in your project will not represent significant additional risk if Government guidance on social distancing becomes more restricted.

You must consider the Welsh language in all aspects of your work and tell us how you will promote and support the Welsh language and reflect the bilingual nature of Wales.

You will need to demonstrate how you will offer bilingual provision in your project's budget and plan. Please include budget for translation under the ‘Other’ costs category within the application form project costs section. 

If you have any questions, queries, or require assistance, please get in touch with cymorthcymraeg@heritagefund.org.uk.

The aim of this grant programme is to support projects which help to connect communities with heritage in their local area. Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations.

The emphasis will be on projects that encourage engagement with your local place, including buildings, sites and monuments, landscapes, parks and gardens. These might be projects that encourage a closer look at the built environment, or that develop an awareness of the history hidden beneath our feet. They might be projects that enable personal stories about your place to be shared.

We also actively encourage projects that aim to find value in places that are not ordinarily seen as historic, but which create stronger connections between heritage and residents’ sense of place and community. Heritage is not all about castles or listed buildings. It can also be your local high street, the corner shop, the local pub, remains of a local colliery or the post box.

We will fund projects that deliver tangible outputs and benefits and engage local people with heritage on their doorstep, such as small-scale physical works like the erection of plaques or interpretive panels.

Projects will also be eligible for funding if you undertake activities that engage the wider community in your heritage and lead to the creation of outputs such as exhibitions and walking trails. Activities might include the creation of walking trail signage, murals or pop-up window displays. They might also include the development of digital resources, for example interactive maps, videos, exhibitions and podcasts.

We recognise that there are layered stories in every place, and we encourage projects that seek to share diverse interpretations of heritage, for example by different generations or people from minoritised groups and communities.

Places can have different meanings to different people, and we encourage shared stories of shared spaces. A former colliery site now reused as a mountain-bike trail could have different value and meaning to a local history group or young people who use the trail.

The different significance, views, and stories of this one place are important to capture and share. Projects which explore these different meanings and encourage people to see different points of view are encouraged to apply.

Priority outcomes

An outcome is a result of what your project does. It’s a change that happens, rather than an activity or service you provide (which are outputs). The easiest way of describing an outcome is to explain how it is different from an output.

• The output of cooking dinner is a plate of food. The outcome is a full and satisfied person.
• The output of a teacher is a certain number of lessons delivered in a year. The outcome is happier, wiser students who are more able to succeed.

When you are designing your project, it is very important that you separate the output (for example, 'building an exhibition space'), from the outcome (for example, 'ensuring that twice as many people from the local community engage with their own stories').

We will prioritise local heritage projects that will achieve the following priority outcomes: 

• a wider range of people will be involved in heritage (Mandatory outcome)

AND

• the local area will be a better place to live, work or visit

Projects should also consider long-term environmental sustainability.

We do not expect your project to achieve any of our other funding outcomes and we will not take into consideration any additional outcomes information you provide during our assessment process.

The common thread to all applications is to inspire more people to look more closely at their local places. 

If oversubscribed, we will prioritise funding to projects that strongly meet the following:

• projects that celebrate the diversity of communities and help to tell the stories of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities in Wales
• local heritage projects that reach new audiences and encourage underrepresented audiences to get involved in their local heritage
• projects that can demonstrate that they have consulted well with the people that they plan to engage with
• organisations that work in partnership. For example, if you are a non-heritage organisation, we would encourage you to partner with a local history society or a museum.

What you can spend the money on

We will fund projects that deliver tangible outputs and benefits and engage local people with heritage on their doorstep.

As an example, you could include costs for:

• minor improvements or repair: for example, of walking trails or routes
• minor outdoor physical works: for example, plaques and panels
• exhibition materials: for example, interpretation panels, cabinets
• digital outputs: this could be digital images, sound files or data, a website with heritage material, an app, or a film made using digital technology. We encourage digital projects to use existing public platforms to share their content rather than creating new websites that require ongoing management.
• equipment: for example, recording and camera equipment, laptops or tablets
• materials: for example, things you might need to enable arts-based interpretation like a mural or pop-up window displays
• activities: to engage the wider community in your heritage and create tangible project outputs, such as developing content for an exhibition or walking trails. Your activities should link to the heritage focus of your project and be tailored to the needs of the people you want to work with.
• facilitation or professional input: to support community engagement and/or the creation of a tangible project output

We cannot cover the costs for the following: 

• existing staff posts or organisational costs
• grants to individuals that don’t own heritage, such as self-employed artists, facilitators etc
• statutory and/or legal responsibilities
• promoting the cause or beliefs of political or faith organisations
• recoverable VAT (Value Added Tax)
• costs for any activity that has taken place before a grant is awarded
• activity-only projects with no tangible output
• major repair and maintenance of historic buildings, monuments, or memorials
• projects that are solely focused on one-off performances, events or festivals
• purchase of items, such as re-enactment costumes, where this does not facilitate better understanding of the local place
• projects that focus on a theme that is not directly connected to a local place. For example, the history of a prominent person or the history of rugby, unless it played a unique role in your place.

We will not fund activity-only projects through this grant programme and expect most of the grant to be spent on capital items and related work. We would expect your activity costs to be no more than 30%.

Other project cost information you need to know:

• You can apply for 100% of the project costs.
• You should think about including a small contingency to cover any unforeseen costs or increases.
• Include a budget for translation.
• Remember to include any grant acknowledgement related costs.
• Projects will be expected to undertake their own evaluation so make sure you include any costs for this in your budget. We recommend you include a budget for not less than 2% of your total project cost.
• All money must be spent by the end of December 2022.

When we assess applications, we will consider whether your project meets the criteria outlined in the ‘what we are looking for’ section on this guidance page. 

Our assessment will also consider a range of factors that apply to all our funding through our open programme.

We will only fund projects that:

• are clearly focused on local heritage in Wales
• will spend the majority of the grant on capital related costs (small-scale physical works, minor repair and upgrading costs, purchase of equipment, etc)
• clearly identify the needs and opportunities the project will address
• strongly achieve our mandatory inclusion outcome of involving a wider range of people with heritage and consider the local area priority outcome: ‘the local area will be a better place to live, work or visit’
• address the mandatory requirement on environmental sustainability
• offer value for money
• consider the current COVID-19 pandemic and consider any potential risks or impacts this will have on project delivery. See Priorities for National Lottery Grants for Heritage 2021-22
• have a clear plan with a defined start, middle and end
• have not already started
• will last a maximum of 12 months and will be complete by the end of December 2022 at the latest

We will prioritise projects that offer high value for money and strongly meet the aims of the funding programme.  

If your project does not meet the criteria for this programme, you could be eligible for some of our other grant programmes.

Unless we need to check anything with you, it is unlikely that you will hear from us again until we notify you of the decision.

As an organisation that gives out public funds, we carry out some checks on the information you provide to us when you apply. For example, we might check your history with us or carry out identity or fraud checks.

How we will make decisions

Applications will be considered by an internal panel convened especially for this purpose. Decisions will be made at the end of November 2021, and you will be notified by email in December 2021.

To start your application, visit our website to create an account for or sign in to our Get funding for a heritage project service.

• Choose ‘Start a new application’ and choose £3,000-£10,000 as the range to apply for.
• Please start your project title with #15Minutes2 to help us correctly identify your application. For example: #15Minutes2 – Sharing the heritage of Aberystwyth town. There is a limit of 15 words.
• Complete the application form provided and submit your supporting documents. In our new 'Get funding for a heritage project' service, help notes and guidance can be found whilst completing the application form.
• Submit the application and supporting documents to us online before 12 noon on 4 October 2021

You can contact our engagement team with any enquiries by e-mailing walescontact@heritagefund.org.uk or calling 029 2034 3413.

You will need to submit some supporting documents with your application. All documents should be provided in digital format along with your online application form.

Please do not submit any additional documents in addition to those requested below.

We will not be able to assess your application if we do not receive all the required information.

1. Governing document (for example, constitution) 

We do not need to see your governing document if you are a public organisation (for example, a local authority) or a private owner of heritage.

Your governing document should include the following:

• the name and aims of your organisation 
• a statement that prevents your organisation from distributing income or property to its members during its lifetime 
• a statement which confirms that, if your organisation is wound up or dissolves, the organisation’s assets will be distributed to another charitable or not-for-profit organisation and not to the organisation’s members 
• the date when it was adopted and the signature of your chairperson (or other authorised person) 

We are unable to accept your application if your constitution does not include the above. You must have at least two people on your board or management committee who are not related by blood or marriage or living at the same address. Please make sure your project falls within the aims of your organisation. The Charity Commission provides guidance on creating a governing document. 

2. Accounts

Include your most recent audited or accountant-verified accounts.

If you are a newly formed organisation and do not have a set of audited accounts, please submit your last three bank statements or a letter from your bank confirming that you have opened an account.

We do not need your accounts if you are a public organisation (for example, a local authority).

3. Letters of support (no more than six, if applicable)

Letters of support are a good way of showing us that you have spoken to other people and new audiences, and demonstrates that they are interested and committed to your project. 

Please send us letters of support from the people involved in your project, rather than general supportive statements. For example, if you are planning to deliver workshops at local youth clubs then a letter of support will show us that they want to take part. 

If possible, letters should be on headed paper or signed. 

If the owner of the heritage is not making the application (for example, activity taking place on private land), we would expect to see a letter of support from the owner granting permission and access to the heritage.

We will let you know the decision on your application via email in December 2021.

If your application is successful

You must wait to receive Permission to Start from us before beginning your project. You will need to submit a form online and provide us with:

• your bank account details (mandatory)
• proof of ownership/leasehold requirements (if applicable)
• details of statutory permissions and/or licences required and obtained (if applicable)
• confirmation of partnership funding (if applicable)

Your organisation will need a bank account. The name on this bank account must exactly match the name of the organisation making the application.

Once you have Permission to Start, we will pay your full grant in advance.

Terms of grant

We will ask you to sign up to our standard terms of grant.

The duration of terms of grant depends on the type of project and the nature of the organisations applying. The terms of grant will last from the date of Permission to Start until:

• activity: the date the project finishes (known as the Project Completion Date)
• capital: five years after the Project Completion Date
• digital: five years after project completion

If your application is unsuccessful

The assessment process is competitive and we cannot fund all of the good quality applications that we receive. If your application is unsuccessful, you may wish to consider some of our other grant programmes.

If you are awarded a grant, you will need to acknowledge the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Welsh Government / Cadw support under the 15-Minute Heritage Grants (Round 2) programme name.

The Welsh Government and Cadw logos should be used together to acknowledge funding. If this is not possible (for example on very small interpretative materials) then the Cadw logo may be used on its own.

We will provide more guidance on this in the event of an award.

For all grant amounts we expect to see acknowledgement planned in from the start of your project. If you are creating physical materials (such as interpretation boards) or bespoke acknowledgement materials, you can include costs for these under the ‘Publicity and promotions’ cost heading in the project costs section of the application.

We expect you to create materials that are in line with National Lottery Heritage Fund sustainability requirements. These include using environmentally friendly/recycled materials and building acknowledgement into existing areas (for example etching into glass windows, engraving into metal and wood).

Find out more about National Lottery Heritage Fund requirements for acknowledging your grant.

Ownership requirements

We expect you to own any property (land, buildings, heritage items or intellectual property) on which you spend the grant. We usually expect the owner of the heritage to fill in the application form and, if you are successful, receive the grant and report on progress. If the owner of the heritage is not making the application, then we will ask them to sign up to the terms of grant.

As an exception, if your project involves activity to take on the management of heritage or any other activity involving property you do not own, we will accept a letter from the current owner giving permission for the project to go ahead. You should send us this letter with your application.

Digital outputs

We have specific requirements, which are set out in our standard terms of grant, for ‘digital outputs’ produced as part of any project. We are using the term ‘digital output’ to cover anything you create in your project in a digital format that is designed to give access to heritage or to help people engage with and learn about heritage.

For example, this includes photographs, text, software, web and app content, databases, 3D models, sound and video recordings.

Items created in the management of the project, for example emails between team members and records of meetings, are not included in the requirement.

If you receive a grant between £3,000 and £10,000, all digital outputs must be:

• ‘available’ (the outputs are freely available online and you can give access to the digital files on demand) for five years from the project completion date
• ‘usable’ (the outputs function as intended and are kept up-to-date)
• ‘open’ (digital outputs are licensed for use by others under the Creative Commons ‘Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY4.0) licence with the exception of code and metadata, which should be release under a Public Domain Dedication unless we have agreed otherwise.

We expect projects:

• to ensure their digital outputs are accessible
• to use open data and tools where possible
• to contribute digital outputs to appropriate heritage collections and open knowledge projects

Read our guidance for digital projects for more information.

Receiving a grant: tells you what you need to do if you are successful and has more detail about our requirements

Standard terms of grant: outlines the terms of our grants

Good practice guidance: advice on a range of topics to help you achieve a high quality project

Evaluation guidance: information about how to carry out an evaluation of your project.

We will regularly review this guidance and respond to user feedback. We reserve the right to make changes as required. We will communicate any changes as quickly as possible via this webpage.