The heritage sector has been under enormous pressure during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and we’re committed to doing everything we can to support it.

Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of organisations across the country to survive and protected hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Oliver Dowden, Culture Secretary

We’ve been working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to deliver grants through The Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage since the start of the pandemic. We’re pleased to announce that further funding is now available.

Continued support

The Culture Recovery Fund was launched in July 2020 in response to the pandemic. Over the past year, £1.2billion has been distributed to more than 5,000 organisations in England. The Heritage Fund, in partnership with Historic England, has distributed more than £120m in grants to almost 800 heritage organisations.

This latest round of funding will provide continued support as the cultural and creative sectors move towards reopening at full capacity.

Ros Kerslake, CEO of The Heritage Fund said: “After an extremely challenging year across the heritage sector, the impacts of which will be seen for some time, I am delighted that another round of the Culture Recovery Fund has been launched to safeguard and save heritage organisations in jeopardy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden said: “Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of organisations across the country to survive and protected thousands of jobs. Now, as we look forward to full reopening, this funding shows our commitment to stand behind culture and heritage all the way through the pandemic.”

New funding available

The third round of recovery funding will deliver grants across two strands:

• new applicants who are at imminent risk of failure due to the ongoing economic impact of COVID-19
• eligible organisations already in receipt of a Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage grant

The first strand, Emergency Resource Support, is open to heritage organisations in England whose livelihoods are threatened by the ongoing impact of the pandemic. Grants of between £10,000-£1m are available.

Who can apply

The Emergency Resource Support funding is available to eligible organisations who have not previously received Culture Recovery Fund support from The Heritage Fund or other distributors and have exhausted all reasonable financing options.

A further Continuity Support strand will be available later this summer for eligible organisations who have already received funding. Existing grantees will receive information about this strand of funding in due course.

If you don’t meet the criteria for this funding, take a look at the full list of our funding programmes as there may be something more suitable for your organisation.

How to apply

Full information about this funding and how to apply is available in our guidance.

Expressions of interest for the Culture Recovery Fund: Emergency Resource Support are open until midday on 30 September 2021.