War Memorials Trust (WMT)
As a focal point for war memorials the charity provides advice and information on all issues related to war memorials, from etiquette to planning law, as well as facilitating the repair and conservation of war memorials through grant schemes.
War Memorials Trust administers three grant schemes which between them cover the whole of the UK.
The first is the Trust’s Small Grants Scheme which is funded through the money it raises directly from fundraising. This supports any type of war memorial anywhere in the UK and has a maximum grant of £2,500. It has supported over 1,000 communities through grants totalling more than half a million pounds.
Within the Small Grants Scheme the charity administers funds from Historic Scotland which supports work on freestanding war memorials in Scotland. Grants of up to £7,500 are available.
Grant for War Memorials, funded by English Heritage and The Wolfson Foundation, supports work to freestanding war memorials in England. Grants range from £1,500 to the maximum £20,000 at 50% eligible costs. Since 2000, £778,766 has been offered to 278 projects. The scheme continues to welcome applications and will have a budget of £150,000 available next year (2012/13).
In addition, War Memorials Trust is occasionally able to offer grants outside the scope of its main grant schemes. These can be special grant schemes set up by the Trust to commemorate individuals or celebrate events or one off grants for a particular project.
Alongside its grant-making, War Memorials Trust provides a unique advisory service. It currently deals with around 300 enquiries a month on an array of issues related to war memorials from repair to theft, planning to etiquette. This supports local communities to manage and maintain their war memorial heritage, ensuring that the memorials remain focal points for community remembrance. A comprehensive range of resources is available from the
Trust’s website on many of the key questions that arise.
In Memoriam 2014
War Memorials Trust is working in partnership with the SmartWater Foundation on a project called In Memoriam 2014 which will provide greater protection for war memorials in the United Kingdom.
The project will work to locate, log and protect thousands of war memorials across the United Kingdom using cutting edge forensic technology. In Memoriam 2014 is supported by the Royal British Legion and the Cadet Forces. As the name suggests this project is using the forthcoming centenary of World War I as a focus for this initiative to help communities preserve their war memorial heritage. In Memoriam 2014 will protect memorials at risk of theft or damage by marking them with SmartWater.
In Memoriam 2014 is open to the whole of the United Kingdom. This includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Crown Territories of Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
Historic Scotland
For the last three years and the current year, Historic Scotland has made available up to £90,000 of funding to War Memorials Trust (see above) for repair grants of up to £7,500 for war memorials in Scotland.
Repairs to war memorials may also be eligible for funding under Historic Scotland’s grant schemes for Historic Building Repair and Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme, through which individual grants of between £10,000 and £500,000 are available.
English Heritage
English Heritage (EH) provides grants for the repair and conservation of freestanding war memorials in England through the scheme jointly funded by the Wolfson Foundation and run in partnership with War Memorials Trust (see also above). Grants from £1,500 to £20,000 can be made for repair and conservation, cleaning and work to improve the legibility of inscriptions, along with professional fees and VAT. The scheme will have £150,000 available for offer next year (2012/13).
In addition to providing half of the funding for the grants under this scheme, EH grant-aids part of the staff and overhead costs for War Memorials Trust’s conservation programme, which includes the Trust’s advisory service and the management of the grant scheme.
Since launching the heritage crime initiative in February this year, EH has been working the police, Crown Prosecution Service and local authorities to better understand the nature of the metal theft problem and devise better strategies to reduce the threat to war memorials.
EH provides guidance available on its website on how to maintain war memorials and how to prevent theft.
Cadw
Cadw operates a number of grant schemes which can help with the restoration of war memorials. Grants can be awarded from its Historic Buildings Grants programme of up to 40% of the total cost of the repair and restoration of a memorial, if it is judged to be of outstanding architectural or historic importance. Some works to memorials may also be eligible under Cadw’s Civic Initiative (Heritage) Grant Scheme through which grants of between £150 and £5000 (at rates of up to 50% of project costs) can be awarded to projects that seek to preserve, enhance or improve the historic environment of Wales and increase social awareness of Welsh heritage.
Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is responsible for recording and protecting Northern Ireland's Built Heritage and has identified and listed over 8,400 structures as being of 'special architectural or historic interest'. This includes 25 War Memorials located throughout Northern Ireland, and often sited in prominent locations in towns and cities. Most memorials are within local Council ownership, with the exception of the memorial owned by Queen's University located in front of its landmark 'Lanyon' building.
In addition to recording these structures, NIEA currently provides grant-aid of 35% for maintenance and repair costs of original fabric for most listed structures and advice for such works through a team of Conservation Architects. In 2007, over £12,000 was made available by NIEA for the repair of the County Antrim War Memorial in Carrickfergus.
Memorials Grant Scheme
This scheme is run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for the whole of the UK. Since March 2005 charities and religious groups have been able to claim as a grant the equivalent of the VAT paid on the eligible costs of erecting, maintaining or repairing public memorials. The scheme has an annual fixed budget of £0.5million and will continue until 2014/15. Since the start of the scheme, over £1.8m has been given out to support public memorials across the UK.
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) provides support for war memorials as part of its open Your Heritage and Heritage Grants programmes, offering awards from £3,000 to £5million plus. It can support projects across the UK that enable people to conserve and learn about their heritage, including war memorials. It recently launched a campaign to encourage people to mark the centenary of the First World War and expects to fund more projects involving war memorials as a result of this initiative which actively welcomes applications for all kinds of heritage projects, large and small.
HLF can also support war memorials where they are located in public parks, as part of its Parks for People funding stream.
Funds for Historic Buildings
There are many other grant schemes available for the conservation and improved presentation of historic buildings across the UK. The Funds for Historic Buildings (FFHB) website contains details of nearly 200 such grant schemes, some of which will be a potential source of funding for repairs to war memorials.
Heritage Funding Directory
The Heritage Alliance, an umbrella organisation of 90 non-government heritage bodies (including the National Trust, War Memorials Trust and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) hosts a directory (the Heritage Funding Directory) of nearly 200 organisations that can provide grants and/or advice for anyone seeking to undertake heritage projects in the UK.
Public Monuments and Sculpture Association
The PMSA aims to heighten public appreciation of Britain's public sculpture, and to contribute to its preservation, protection and promotion. It seeks to achieve this through several projects that include the National Recording Project, the Sculpture Journal, Save our Sculpture (SoS) and the Marsh Award for Public Sculpture.
Using data gathered by the National Recording Project and through other sources, Save our Sculpture identifies sculptures at risk, records them on the SoS At Risk Register and alerts local authorities, private owners, campaign groups and the general public to the urgent need for action. SoS aims to help those who care about their local sculptures and monuments to do something about their maintenance and preservation - to press for change and make it happen.