National Lottery funding to help heritage charities with mentoring support

Heritage charities are being urged to apply for free mentoring and support through a National Lottery funded project.

The business support programme for small to medium sized heritage organisations is called Heritage Compass and is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

It is being delivered by charity support organisation Cause4 in partnership with Creative United and the Arts Marketing Association.

Its aim is to “grow resilience and invigorate the heritage sector accorss England”, according to the fund organisers.

They add: “Over two years, we will be working with 150 small or medium heritage organisations from across the country.

“This new programme is designed to allow a wide range of heritage organisations to build their resilience through working together, as well as developing their individual strategies.

“Organisations will gain tailored training, mentoring and peer learning, developing strategy and moving forward as part of a dynamic new cohort of heritage organisations.”

There are two applications round for the support, with deadlines of 6 November and 11 December. The programme will start in late January 2021.

Social distancing and lockdown have hit heritage charities particularly hard amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this month the government announced a £103m rescue package to help the sector cope with the health crisis and keep historic sites open.