Grant amount

The minimum amount of grant is £5million. There is no upper limit.

We have a total of £50m available (2020-2021). The process is closed to new applicants.

Who can apply

You can apply for a Heritage Horizon Award if you are a:

• not-for-profit organisation
• partnership led by a not-for-profit organisation

The process is closed to new applicants.

What we are looking for

The concept behind the Heritage Horizon Awards is: "Backing big ideas, unlocking possibilities".

This means, we expect all projects to be:

• transformative
• innovative
• collaborative

We want you to show clear and ambitious plans for how the project will bring about positive changes and benefits to people, places and wider heritage. We expect you to have plans to share your learning from the project widely across the sector.

Our strategic priorities are:

• landscapes and nature
• heritage at risk

What happens if you are shortlisted

Following the Expression of Interest (EOI) and presentation stages, shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a development phase application through our online application portal by late November 2020.

Key dates

The programme is in two phases:

• development phase: up to two years
• delivery phase: up to five years

For grants above £5m, application deadlines are set in advance to clarify when funding decisions will be made.

• 11 October 2019 at 12noon: Expressions of Interest deadline
• 16 December 2019: shortlisted projects notified
• late November 2020: deadline for development application
• early 2021: development decisions are made
• up to 2022: projects will have up to two years to submit their delivery proposals. Delivery decisions will be made by the Board.

What applicants need to contribute financially

You must contribute at least 10% of the costs of your development phase and 10% of the costs of your delivery phase.

We describe your contribution as "partnership funding" and it can be made up of cash, non-cash contributions, volunteer time or a combination of all of these.

For further details please see the guidance below.

Key documents:

• application guidance - this is the application guidance for our £250,000-£5m grants. It sets out who can apply, what we are looking for, the application process, timeline and financial contributions. It also applies to grants over £5m, except for the differences outlined above.
• application help notes
• preview of the questions contained within the Expression of Interest - this is the form used for our £250,000-£5m grants. It also applies to grants over £5m.
• good practice guidance
• standard terms for development phase grants
• standard terms for delivery grants