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Eligibility

The Records at Risk grant programme is open to all eligible archives and heritage organisations in the United Kingdom. We cannot fund organisations based in 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.

Applicants will need to be a recognised archival custodian. Examples of a recognised custodian include institutional or accredited archive services under the Archives Service Accreditation Scheme, or a member of an appropriate specialist group such as the Community Archives and Heritage Group. However, the applicant organisation does not need to be an Accredited Archive to receive funding; our definition is broader and includes many types of archival organisations.

In exceptional circumstances, the records creator will be able to receive funding; such organisations must apply in partnership with a recognised archival custodian.

Where appropriate, archives are encouraged to propose partnership projects and consortium applications are welcome.

The records themselves must pass the following four eligibility tests:

  • The records face substantial risk concerning their long-term survival through immediate risk, or resulting from a prolonged period of neglect; or in the absence of sufficient information to make informed decisions about their future management and retention
  • There is insufficient funding within the archives service to secure the collection
  • The records have sufficient historic and research significance, and their loss would be detrimental to the future study of the activities of the record-creating organisation, of the locality, or nationally
  • The records are currently held within the United Kingdom.

The records can be in analogue or digital formats and can be inside or outside of the custody of the records creator or a recognised collecting archive institution.

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

The applicant must employ or have access to professional support from an archivist or similarly qualified professional.

Given the nature and purpose of the funding, we will not accept repeat applications, for the same collection, without the written permission of The National Archives’ Grants and Funding Office. There are no restrictions on institutions submitting an application for a different collection than was previously assessed.

Timetable

The Records at Risk grant programme is a rolling fund, that is open at all times. 

As the fund is designed to support urgent interventions, your application will be reviewed by the Grants and Funding team at The National Archives for eligibility and then shared with the funding panel.

Applications will be assessed upon receipt for urgent risk of loss or destruction and prioritised for assessment. Longer term and less urgent interventions will be considered in our monthly panel meetings. Applications for these need to be received two weeks in advance of the panel meeting for consideration, late applications will be considered at the next months panel.

Application Form

Finance and budgeting

The Records at Risk programme funds interventions of up to £5,000, and all costs should be directly related to the urgent intervention. However, we understand that the nature of risks and solutions are likely to vary based on circumstances, therefore most cost categories are eligible.

The programme cannot fund:

  • Overheads, full cost recovery or management fees
  • Collections acquisition
  • Costs incurred prior to the date of any award offer from The National Archives

Assessment process

Records at Risk Grants have a one-stage application process. 

Application Form

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

  • Significance
  • Need
  • Impact
  • Delivery and management

See our assessment criteria for further guidance:

Records at Risk 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 archival and heritage experts, selected from within and outside of The National Archives, and including representatives from the British Records Association and the Business Archives Council.

The current panel is:

  • Victoria Northwood – Representative of the British Records Association
  • Richard Wiltshire – Representative of the Business Archives Council
  • Philip Gale – Head of Standard and Improvement, The National Archives
  • Sonja Schwoll – Head of Conservation and Treatment Development, The National Archives
  • Liz Hart – Senior Advisor, Manorial Records, The National Archives

The panel will meet on a monthly basis to assess applications received in that period.

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. You can contact us by emailing archivegrants@nationalarchives.gov.uk.