Introduction

In 2020, The National Lottery Heritage Fund generously awarded Coventry City Council a grant in support of the transformation of St. Mary’s Guildhall, which has enabled much needed enhancements to the historic site including greater accessibility, the conservation and redisplay of the magnificent tapestry, and the development of state-of-the-art interpretation facilities.

A further key objective of this funding was to increase opportunities for local communities to experience St Mary’s Guildhall, and to benefit from greater contact with heritage.

To support this objective St. Mary’s Guildhall, in partnership with Coventry City Council, has launched a grant scheme for organisations to deliver projects that will allow Coventry communities to engage more deeply with St Mary’s Guildhall, and encourage a long-lasting relationship with heritage.

Project brief

Funding is available exclusively for projects that meet one or more of the grant priorities:

• A wider range of people from different backgrounds will be involved in heritage activities.
• Links in some way to the themes of St Mary’s Guildhall, either through the building, its collections or the stories told.
• People will be able to develop new skills.
• People will be able to learn about the past hopefully leading to more engagement with places like St Mary’s Guildhall in the future. 

The funding scheme has a total value of £30,000, with awards available to eligible projects in two funding tiers:

Applications for Tier 2 Grants can be submitted year round from 20 July 2023 until March 2024, with award decisions made each quarter.

Tier 1 Grants will be larger awards, between £2,000 and £8,000. This is for larger projects to which only constituted organisations may apply.

There will be two rounds of applications for projects in Tier 1, open as follows:

1. 4 August 2023 to 15 September 2023

2. 19 February to 29 March 2024

Full details of the timeline is available at the end of this document.

Tier 2 Grants are smaller awards, between £250 and £1,999, to which both constituted organisations, and non-constituted community groups may apply.

Applications for Tier 2 grants can be submitted year-round until March 2024, with award decisions made each quarter. While applications can be received at any time, please see our deadlines to be considered at the relevant quarterly panel below.

Eligibility – Who can apply?

• For Tier 1 applications, only constituted not-for-profit organisations may apply. This covers any not-for-profit organisation with a written constitution, formally constituted in the UK with their own bank account and at least two signatories (registered at different addresses). This includes registered charities, Community Interest Companies and Companies Limited by Guarantee.
• For Tier 2 applications both constituted not-for-profit organisations and non-constituted community organisations may apply.
• For non-constituted community organisations, the applicant will be required to provide 3 letters of reference from someone who has worked with your group and is not related to or living at the same address of the lead applicant, as well as evidence of previous community work undertaken.
• Organisations which are not already in receipt of Coventry City Council funding for their project.
• It is permissible for organisations to partner with non-constituted groups and freelance practitioners in the delivery of projects, but applications can only be made by, and grants awarded to, eligible parties.

Eligibility – Project criteria

Eligibility – What we won’t fund

• Projects which do not primarily involve Coventry residents (CV1-CV6).
• Projects which do not meet the project brief and one or more grant priorities.
• Projects which have already happened or are going to happen before the decision date for the grant application, or projects which are due to finish after the closing date of the grant.
• Projects that are already being funded by Coventry City Council.
• Capital costs, including the purchase, repair and maintenance of buildings and facilities.
• Projects used to support any political organisations or for campaigning on any political issues, or involving the dissemination of any material that is capable of being defamatory.
• School or college courses or items already within the curriculum delivery. For a school/college-based project to be considered it must demonstrate identifiable community involvement and benefit.
• Prizes, competitions or fundraising events.
• Projects without activity and outcomes that can be measured and evaluated.