Community Heritage Grant Scheme opens for applicants in Donegal

The Heritage Council is inviting online applications from community groups in Donegal under its Community Heritage Grant Scheme, which is intended to enable communities and heritage non-governmental organisations to continue their work on existing projects, or to start new initiatives.

The scheme, which is open until 11:30pm, on Friday, March 14, is seeking applications for projects that apply good
heritage practice to the management of places, collections, buildings, monuments, habitats, species or objects; or that are aimed at improving access and inclusion to heritage sites.

It also supports training events for traditional building skills, craft skills, graveyard recording and biodiversity as well as the purchase of specialised equipment.

Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer, said, “Last year, seventeen County Donegal-based heritage groups or community groups with a heritage remit secured circa €356,000 in funding under the Heritage Council’s Community Heritage Grants Scheme. This grant scheme provides essential funding to many proactive, voluntary heritage groups in the county,

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"Community groups can now apply for 100% funding for natural, archaeological, built and cultural heritage projects. Grants of between €500 and €25,000 per project can be awarded. The community heritage initiatives funded under the Community Heritage Grant Scheme highlights the importance of our heritage to social, cultural, economic and tourism development and provides funding to support employment in the heritage sector in our county,” he concluded. 

Eligible projects include conservation works to buildings or stabilisation of ruins, access audits, improving physical or virtual access to heritage buildings or sites, purchase of equipment, traditional building skills training events or workshops, online exhibitions, the development of heritage databases or websites, digitisation projects, podcasts, conservation reports or plans, interpretation plans, historic building surveys, heritage audits, graveyard surveys, oral history projects, control of invasive species, work on habitats and natural sites, and citizen science projects.

The Community Heritage Grant Scheme does not support projects to carry out a public sector body’s statutory or core responsibilities, undergraduate or postgraduate projects, archaeological excavations, DNA analysis, signage, publications, leaflets, conferences, seminars, memorials, amenity landscaping works or primary schools projects.

Further details on the Community Heritage Grant Scheme are available on the Heritage Council website. Advice is also available from the County Donegal Heritage Office of Donegal County Council on (074) 917 2576 or by email at heritage@donegalcoco.ie.