Finding Funding for Conservation and Management of Industrial Heritage Sites

Ian Bapty, Industrial Heritage Support Officer, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

Fit to Fundraise: Checklist

• Leadership – to be successful in fundraising, organisation needs strong leadership • Mission and Aims – know what you want to achieve, evidence of forward planning • Business Plan – realistic plan for delivering aims, capacity to realise those aims • Financial strength and ability to deliver – giving funders confidence in project management • Fundraising expertise – right skills to manage successful fundraising • Staff and volunteer support – everyone involved understand and shares aims • Committed supporters – knowing who your key supporters are • Communications – effective links with supporters and wider public audiences

• Stewardship – effective systems to look after funders

Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)

Key HLF funding pots for industrial heritage (2013-2018 HLF Strategic Plan): Heritage Grants The basic HLF ‘pot’ for all major projects from £100,000 to £5 million. Projects up to £2 million must achieve a minimum of one outcome in each of the ‘heritage’, ‘people’ and ‘communities’ categories. Our Heritage Supporting all types of projects in the £10,000 to £100,000 bracket, a key change is that private individuals and ‘for profit’ organisations can now apply. The Historic Houses Association (HHA) have produced advice for private owners wishing to apply to ‘Our Heritage’. Catalyst Heritage: Building Fundraising Capacity A new programme offering grants of £3,000 to £10,000 for heritage organisations to undertake activities which will support sustainable benefits through access to new sources of private funding. Heritage Enterprise A major new programme offering grants of £100,000 to £5 million to enable the repair, adaptation and refurbishment of historic buildings and industrial sites, or groups of buildings, for an end use that actively contributes to sustainable development in areas experiencing economic disadvantage. The scheme is aimed at community groups and social enterprises working in partnership with the private sector and local authorities.

Association For Industrial Archaeology: Conservation Grants

• Targets restoration of historically, technically, architecturally and/or archaeologically important industrial heritage including buildings, structures, machinery and vessels • Up to £20,000 capital funding, must be part of a partnership funded project where the AIA grant is at least 20% of the total (must not result in another body reducing its funding) • Will usually relate to a single, tangible structure or artefact which must be covered by a Conservation Policy and/or Statement • The heritage asset must be sustainably managed, and accessible to the public • The applicant must be a not-for-profit organisation such as a trust or charity • Can fund new projects or completion of projects which have already started • Simple 4 page application process (annual round, deadline March 31st each year)

• For more information see http://industrial-archaeology.org/arestore.htm

Countryside Stewardship: Entry Level Scheme

• Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) is an agri-environment scheme providing funding to land managers in return for delivery of environmental management on their land • Objectives include protection of historic environment, including archaeology and buildings

• 5 year agreements, applicants must have management control of the land for that period

• Admission to the scheme is based on a points total for a given area of land accrued by signing up to environmental management options (need to reach an agreed points total which is calculated according to land type and number of hectares) • Payments range from £8 to £62 per hectare per annum depending on land type

• Options relevant to industrial heritage: ED1 (traditional building maintenance), ED2 (take arch. features out of cultivation), ED3 (reduced depth cultivation), ED4 (management of scrub on arch. features) and ED5 (management of arch. features in grassland) • For more info see http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/

Countryside Stewardship: Higher Level Scheme

• Higher Level Stewardship (ELS) is an agri-environment scheme aiming to provide significant environmental benefits in high priority situations and areas • 5 year agreements, whole farm scheme, applicants must control land for that period

• HLS is discretionary, competitive and targeted at priority areas - need to contact NE before submitting application to establish eligibility • Payments linked to a range of options with defined payment rates per unit/annum – standard options potentially relevant to industrial heritage include HD7 (arable reversion) and HD9 (maintenance of designed/engineered water bodies) • Additional capital works options can pay larger one off sums against more major projects • HAP (historic and archaeological feature protection) includes management plans, consolidation of historic structures, scrub clearance and other damage mitigation • HTB (restoration of historic buildings), applications will be prioritised linked to local character targets and condition, will require Management Plan and Capital Works Plan

English Heritage Management Agreements

• English Heritage can offer funding to improve the management of monuments or access to them through agreements with the owner or occupier of the land • Priorities for funding will be scheduled monuments at risk • Funding will be focussed on sites where Environmental Stewardship is not available • Agreements usually run for a term of three or five years

• Payment will usually be made annually against an agreed programme of regular management • Can include payment for one-off repairs which would usually be carried out at the start of the term • More major repairs can be considered under EH grant scheme for Historic Buildings, Monuments and Designed Landscapes • See http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/ for more information

English Heritage Historic Buildings, Monuments and Designed Landscapes Grants Scheme

• Scheme is for urgent repairs or other work required within two years to prevent loss or damage to important architectural, archaeological or landscape features. • Priorities for funding are defined heritage at risk sites (see EH website) and projects where there is a lack of alternative sources of funding • Grants will generally be in the £10,000 to £200,000 category (can be more), and will usually be part of a partnership funding package which maximises the value of EH grant aid • Grants can cover project development, standing building repair, repair of earthworks, protection of buried remains, public realm work and other project costs • Will not fund alterations, general maintenance, minor repair or reconstruction projects

• See http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/ for more information and application form

• Talk to EH regional staff before considering an application – funds are limited and projects must hit national and regional priorities to have any realistic chance of progressing

Charitable Trusts

A number of trusts may support conservation of Industrial Heritage. They include: Leche Trust http://www.lechetrust.org/ Supports the preservation of historic buildings and historic landscapes.

Pilgrim Trust http://www.thepilgrimtrust.org.uk/ Supports repairs to historic buildings and conservation of structures that are important to their surroundings, and likes to fund projects which cannot easily be funded by other sources.

Sylvia Waddilove Foundation http://www.pwwsolicitors.co.uk/ Supports the preservation of buildings of historic or architectural significance. • Typically provide relatively low level funding (up to £15,000, but can be more) • Usually straightforward application processes and regular turn around • Important to talk to trusts before making applications – unsolicited applications often fail/ run up against existing commitments • Use contacts and build relationships – Trusts often like direct approaches from the ‘doers’ For more complete listings, check out http://www.aim-museums.co.uk/content/grant_sources/

The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF)

AHF grants: • Project Viability: up to £3,000 (100%) • Project Development: up to £20,000, including up to £15,000 for Project Organiser, capped elements within total • Cold Spots: Up to £10,000 (100%) for Industrial Heritage at Risk projects (Funded by English Heritage, Pilgrim Trust and J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust up to end 2014) AHF loans: • Up to £500- £700k @ typically 5% to 7% simple interest over 3-5 years • Security required • Flexibility, tailored terms, talk to AHF for more information SW Regional Support Officer: Josephine Brown Josephine.Brown@ahfund-regional.org.uk

Building Preservation Trusts (BPTs)

• A BPT is a charity whose main aims include the preservation and regeneration of historic buildings • There are almost 300 BPTs in the UK, mostly rooted in their local communities • Can cover individual buildings towns, cities, or whole counties, some specialise in particular types of building and a few cover the whole of the UK • Revolving fund trusts work to successively undertake building preservation projects

• Most BPTs belong to the United Kingdom Association of Building Preservation Trusts (APT)

• APT publishes a regular newsletter, helps BPTs with advice, organises area meetings and conferences, provides a VAT advice scheme, and produces guidance notes for BPTs For more information, contact the AHF (http://www.ahfund.org.uk/) or the Association of Building Preservation Trusts (http://www.ukapt.org.uk/)

Commercial and Private Donation

• Has potential to be a significant source of funding that can fill gaps • May be targeted at specific projects/conservation outputs and can be ‘sold’ on that basis • Can be a good way of building new relationships and showing the additional value of industrial heritage sites and projects (community and levering other funding) • Connect industrial heritage projects to active industrial concerns (in kind as well as money) • Additional potential to develop links with commercial umbrella bodies (livery companies)

• Potential for tax benefits (Gift Aid and commercial tax breaks)

• Need to work hard to make contacts – project supporters and their networks a key tool • Need to be upfront about the terms of the relationship and define at the outset what a donor is getting out of it, and need to work to maintain relationships with donors • Current economic climate inevitably means commercial support can be difficult to find

Crowdfunding

• Funding from a crowd of people who back a specific project idea • A specific time frame for funding targets to be reached, and everyone who gives receives something in return (money returned if target not met) • Each member of the crowd gives a little, then tells their friends, who give a bit more, and so on until it all adds up • Relies on communication via information media, a strong sell/hook, and clearly defined benefits for those who buy into the idea (not just about giving money, but buying into something bigger) • Can be facilitated by companies such as Buzzbnk https://www.buzzbnk.org/

• Could fit an industrial heritage project linked tied into an appeal with a tangible output

• Potentially builds a whole new supporter base as well as raising funds

Ian Bapty Industrial Heritage Support Officer

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Coalbrookdale

Shropshire TF8 7DQ

Tel: 01952 435970 E-mail: ian.bapty@ironbridge.org.uk

Web: http://industrialheritagesupport.wordpress.com/