Grants of between £3,000 and £7,000 are available to a wide range of organisations across England, including charities, Community Interest Companies, local authorities and education institutions, for research that helps uncover hidden histories and encourages more diverse nominations for Historic England’s blue plaques. (This funding is specifically for research taking place outside of Greater London, or for projects where the potential national blue plaque would be sited outside of Greater London).
Historic England’s Community Research Grants aim to help uncover hidden histories and encourage more diverse nominations for its National Blue Plaques scheme.
The Community Research Grants are available to organisations working with communities, and in partnership with a historian or researcher, who want to discover more about people or groups who may be eligible for a national blue plaque.
The aim of the programme is for the funded research to pave the way for communities to submit nominations for national blue plaques in the future. They also hope to create opportunities for the research to be shared with local communities and shine a light on significant people from their area or heritage.
The total budget available in this round is £70,000. Historic England aims to award between 10 and 15 grants, ranging from £3,000 to £7,000.
Funding is only available for organisations that can evidence working with underrepresented communities including diverse and minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people, disabled and neuro-diverse people and women.
The national blue plaques scheme is about celebrating people, from all walks of life, that have made a significant contribution to human welfare and happiness. Often, marginalised and under-represented people are less represented through commemoration. These grants will fund new community-engaged research into significant groups and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds and communities so that their stories are celebrated and reach broader audiences.
Historic England wants the national blue plaques to commemorate individuals or groups that have been nominated by communities today, celebrating who is important to them and bringing renewed pride to the area. They expect the projects funded through this scheme to work with communities to co-produce research that is relevant and valued by people living in the local area.
While the aim for this research is to lead to more diverse applications to the national blue plaques scheme, in some cases there might not be enough evidence for a successful nomination. This is okay, as Historic England wants to share the stories uncovered by the research. Any nominations that are received will go through the same process as all other public nominations, and there is no guarantee the nominated person or group will receive a plaque.
As a result of this funding:
- People and stories that have been overlooked will be researched and celebrated.
- Research will be carried out into people or groups who have not yet been commemorated by a plaque.
- Local communities will have the opportunity to learn about the person or group being celebrated increasing local pride and developing new skills.
- Local communities will have the opportunity to increase social connections, and
- Local communities engaged with the project will have a greater understanding and enjoyment of the diversity of heritage around them.
In addition, to researching a chosen person or group, there are three outputs Historic England would like to see as part of these research projects:
A written summary of the research undertaken. Grantees should deliver a 2-8 page summary of the research undertaken and recommendations on next steps for the research if applicable. This should include the details of the person or group that was researched, what was discovered through the project and how the communities took part in the process. A template for this will be provided once the grants have been awarded.
Opportunities within the project to share the research and stories publicly, and with the communities to whom it is important. This could take a variety of forms, from a walking tour of the local area, an exhibition at a local library, a presentation to schools, online content or some other form of event or celebration to share the stories of the significant person with the community.
And, in some cases:
- A national blue plaque nomination in 2025. This is where applicants will be able to summarise their research and make the case for a national blue plaque to be awarded. The current nomination form is available online, and the 2025 version will be available in spring 2025.
- The outputs and the process must have accessibility at their core, applications should demonstrate consideration of disabilities and other barriers to access.
Historic England hopes to publish elements of the research produced its website, and other relevant platforms in order to share the stories more broadly. The details will be discussed with successful applicants.
Activities funded through this programme might include (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
- Accessing local or national archives to discover more about the life of significant person and the building they are connected to. For example, researching which building an important person of lived in, or where they worked at an important stage of their life.
- Spending time researching the scale of significance a particular person or group had and evidencing how their activities had national influence. This might be something like a particular invention or scientific discovery, or something such as a style of art or music that went on to have great significance.
- Conducting research into a particular community to discover people from that group who have had national significance, and
- Researching with communities and capturing oral histories or collecting evidence about a significant person from history.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply can be found on the Historic England website.
The deadline for applications is 23:59 on Friday 5 July 2024.