New grant scheme for heritage projects

Grants of between £750,000 and £1.5 million will be available.

The new Heritage & Place Programme is an area-based funding scheme that aims to contribute to the development of vibrant and sustainable places in Scotland through community-based regeneration of the historic environment.

Heritage-focused schemes located within conservation areas or distinctive heritage areas will be supported through the programme. Grants, which will typically be between £750,000 - £1.5m, will support a combination of activities including the repair and reuse of historic environment assets, training to strengthen local traditional skills and building capacity within communities to value and look after the historic environment in the long-term.

The Heritage & Place Programme will replace HES’s Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) which ran from 2007 to 2020 and is open to local authorities, national park authorities and not-for-profit organisations.

The application process includes a match-funded development phase to encourage strategic, high-quality schemes with meaningful community involvement. Projects will also no longer need to be located within defined conservation areas, and conditions for third-party grants have been revised to ensure further opportunities for participation.

Requirements for traditional skills training and material audits have been strengthened, and a stronger focus is being placed on developing strategies to ensure successful management and maintenance on completion of the scheme.

Applicants will also be encouraged to apply for area-based funding under the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Grants for Heritage programme.

Amy Eastwood, HES head of grants, said: “Schemes accepted on to the programme will involve partnerships of a local, regional and national level to revive heritage areas based on a shared vision. Communities will be placed at the heart of each scheme to ensure their involvement throughout the process, as well as empowering them with the long-term aspiration of looking after their historic environment.”

Further details on the HES website.