Since the launch of our Digital Skills for Heritage initiative, we've provided support to thousands of individuals and hundreds of organisations right across the UK. Our Digital Heritage Lab, Heritage Digital and Leading the Sector projects continue to provide vital resources, training and activities.  

Thanks to The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), we will be able to expand our work to better respond to the digital skills needs of the sector. We have been given an additional £1million to build on our success to date and ensure the sector has the tools and skills to get the most out of digital.

Help us deliver for the sector

We are now seeking organisations to help us deliver for the sector.

Funding is divided into three pots:

Answering the sector's top digital questions

Grants of up to £250,000 from a total pot of £550,000 are open to organisations across the UK that can research and answer the heritage sector’s 100 most pressing and frequently asked digital questions.

Answers will take a variety of engaging forms, including ‘how to’ videos and short online courses.

We have split the questions up into five thematic areas, and we are inviting bids into each:

• Finding, creating and sharing digital content
• Online and mobile community development
• Digital engagement and activities
• Digital leadership and organisational development
• Business models and recovery planning

Applicants are welcome to bid for more than one lot.

The successful applicants will take a cohort approach, learning from each other. One applicant will take a lead ‘convener’ role, managing the pipeline and taking responsibly for hosting all materials in a central hub.

Apply for funding to answer the sector’s questions.  

Digital innovation and enterprise

£250,000 is available to organisations or consortia in England that can provide training and support for digital innovation and enterprise.

Heritage organisations will face a challenging future as they emerge from the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This project will provide the tools they need to make effective use of digital within strategic and operational planning.

We welcome bids that draw on a mixture of approaches and formats to deliver benefits to the diverse range of organisations that make up the heritage sector.

Apply for funding to drive innovation and enterprise. 

Building collaborative communities 

Grants of up to £120,000 from a pot of £600,000 are available to organisations based in England that can support the development of open, collaborative and networked communities of practice. 

Organisations will act as thematic hubs, anchoring networks of expertise around specific heritage topics. Broad or narrow, they could be a specific place, period of time, community, culture and/or specialist area, but they must be something that a range of heritage organisations are passionate about.

The hubs will embed the development of technical skills and organisational collaboration across the sector.

We encourage applications that build on existing public projects and networks.

Apply for funding to build networked communities. 

Application deadlines

All three pots have the same deadlines: 

• Project Enquiry Forms must be submitted by noon on 13 November 2020.  
• Full applications must be submitted by noon on 15 January 2021. 

Supporting heritage

Caroline Dinenage, Minister for Digital and Culture, said: “It's been great to see how so many heritage organisations have quickly adapted to operating in the digital space as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"With this funding, even more of our cherished heritage organisations will be able to engage a wider audience with their important work, ensuring their legacies can continue long into the future.”

Harriet Hall, Campaigns Project Manager at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: "Over the past few months we have been working hard to support heritage organisations and understand what they need to get the most out of digital – both right now and as they move forward at this difficult time.

"It’s fantastic to receive this support from DCMS, which we will use to continue this hugely important work of providing opportunities for organisations to develop digital skills."

The extra £1m funding from DCMS is part of the wider £92m Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. It comes on top of an initial £1.5m National Lottery funding for Digital Skills for Heritage, bringing total initiative funding to £2.5m. 

Digital Skills for Heritage

Digital Skills for Heritage is designed to raise digital confidence across the heritage sector.

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