British Council Cultural Protection Fund 2026–2029: Grants of up to £500,000 to Safeguard Heritage at Risk from Conflict and Climate Change

Captured cycle: This page is retained for historical guidance. Confirm whether the program has reopened before planning an application.

British Council Cultural Protection Fund 2026–2029: Grants up to £500,000 for Cultural Heritage Protection

The British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund (CPF) Open Call 2026–29 supports projects that protect cultural heritage at risk. The British Council leads the fund in partnership with the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This round focuses on heritage threatened by conflict and climate change, while the guidance also allows projects addressing other identified risks. It is a multi-year programme, with grants of up to £500,000 for work in the fund’s target countries.

The application process has two stages. Expressions of interest opened on 23 June 2026 and closed on 20 July 2026. The full-application deadline is 13 October 2026, but only applicants whose expressions of interest were accepted and who received an invitation may submit a full application. The EOI stage is closed; this remaining deadline does not reopen the call to organisations that missed it or were not invited to proceed. The latest round-specific application guidance, updated in September 2026, sets the deadline at 13 October 2026. A British Council for Syria page retains an earlier 28 August date; invited applicants should follow the updated 2026–29 guidance and the deadline shown in their Good Grants invitation.

Key details

The primary references are the British Council’s 2026–29 application guidance, updated 1 September 2026 and its supporting documents page. The 2026 funding-round page is the official call page, though it returned HTTP 403 in the current check. The September guidance is accessible and gives 13 October 2026 as the full-application deadline for invitees. The British Council for Syria funding notice still gives 28 August 2026; that regional notice is older than the round-specific September guidance. Applicants invited to apply should use the updated 2026–29 guidance and their Good Grants invitation.

What the fund is intended to support

CPF funds practical protection of cultural heritage at risk, not general arts programming without a defined heritage-protection purpose. The guidance identifies conflict and climate change as urgent threats. Conflict can lead to damage or destruction of sacred sites, looting, loss of access, and attempts to suppress communities’ identities or traditions. Extreme weather and geological events can damage buildings and sites; heat can threaten objects and records; and resource pressures may displace communities and disrupt the transfer of skills, recipes, traditions and languages.

The fund’s understanding of heritage covers both tangible and living forms. Examples include archaeological sites and monuments; collections in museums, libraries and archives; historic buildings; stories, festivals, crafts, music, dance and costumes; heritage linked to places or landscapes; community histories; languages and dialects; and memories recorded through oral history. A proposal should identify the specific heritage at risk, explain why people value it, describe the threat and show what the planned activities will do to protect it.

CPF expects projects to contribute to outcomes in three areas: heritage should be in better condition, more prepared or better understood; society should become stronger, more inclusive or more resilient; and the work should create increased opportunities or benefits for people and places. The application help notes require positive activity under all three areas, while asking applicants to describe only the outcomes their project will actually achieve. Examples include physical repair, risk planning, documentation, training, inclusive participation, local jobs and community enterprises. Applicants should connect each proposed outcome to the identified threat, the activities, and a realistic way to measure progress.

All projects must include protection of living heritage and demonstrate evidence of local demand and support. A project focused on a historic structure or collection therefore needs to explain its relationship to people, knowledge or practices connected to that heritage. Consultation should not be treated as a formality. Explain who helped shape the proposal, what they said was needed, how they will take part, and how the work will respond to their priorities.

Grant size and project period

The maximum grant is £500,000. The British Council expects to make approximately seven awards in the £100,000–£500,000 range and approximately 20 awards below £100,000. These figures are estimates of the number of awards, not guarantees or a promise that each grant band will be funded. Each application is assessed on its merits and within the available funding.

The requested amount should be proportionate to the project’s activities, reach and delivery capacity. The application questions are the same for smaller and larger requests, but the amount of explanation and evidence should reflect the grant size. Applicants requesting more than £100,000 should provide more in-depth evidence of need and explain how the project will manage the greater scale, complexity and risks. The budget should clearly connect to the activity plan and likely impact.

The general eligibility section says projects should start no earlier than January 2026 and finish by January 2029, but the round timeline and project-start question give the specific dates for this call: projects can begin from January 2027 and must end by 31 January 2029. Applicants should use these call-specific dates to plan activities, procurement, permissions, partner coordination, seasonal access, safeguarding and security, and show the schedule in the Project Activity Plan.

Who may apply

The lead applicant must be a legally registered organisation. Public and private organisations can apply, and the organisation may be registered anywhere in the world. Sole traders cannot apply. A private organisation may take part but may not make a profit from a Cultural Protection Fund project. Applicants must provide evidence of legal status and supporting documentation in English.

Each application must identify one lead applicant organisation with overall legal and financial responsibility for the grant. That lead is accountable for managing the grant and should be able to coordinate the work, oversee funds and meet the reporting requirements. Partnerships are encouraged and should be formalised through agreements. The guidance encourages formal partnership agreements, and the full application should include an agreement that describes every partner’s roles and responsibilities. The detailed partner section says agreements should be signed, while the supporting-document checklist specifically says the agreement does not need to be signed at application stage or be legally binding. For preparing the application, follow the checklist: provide the roles and responsibilities in an agreement, with signatures not required at that stage. If a grant is awarded, the lead must accept the British Council’s Grant Agreement.

If the lead organisation is registered outside the target country, the project must include partners registered inside the target country. Activities must take place in one or more of the 17 target countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda or Yemen. A local partner should have a substantive role in the work and its decisions. Describe each partner’s contribution, local knowledge and responsibilities rather than listing organisations without an explanation of how they will participate.

Proposals should respond to a real need and show local support. They should also consider equality, diversity and inclusion: identify practical barriers to participation and explain how the project will reduce them. Depending on the setting, barriers may involve physical access, cost, language, communication, gender or social factors. Include reasonable access and inclusion costs in the budget where needed.

Application process and current status

The first stage was an online expression of interest (EOI), which allowed CPF to assess whether a proposal was eligible, feasible and likely to be competitive as a full application. The EOI asked about the organisation’s relevant experience, the heritage and risks, community support, protection activities, access and participation, expected outcomes, and an indicative budget. The EOI deadline was 20 July 2026 at 23:59 BST and has passed. The updated September guidance gives 13 October 2026 as the full-application deadline for invitees; the older British Council for Syria page still shows 28 August. Use the current call-specific guidance and the deadline on the Good Grants form supplied with the invitation.

Applicants whose EOI was accepted receive an invitation and a link to the full application form on the Good Grants platform. CPF says it will only accept full applications invited through the EOI stage. The updated September 2026 guidance lists 13 October 2026 as the deadline for these applications. A British Council for Syria page still shows the earlier 28 August date, but the round-specific guidance is the current source for this call. If you submitted an EOI, check the email account used for the application and follow the fund team’s decision and invitation. An organisation that did not submit an EOI, or that was not invited to proceed, cannot send an unsolicited full application for this round.

Invited applicants should use the link in their invitation to access Good Grants, create a free account or log in, and complete the full application form. The guidance recommends using an up-to-date browser. Account setup uses an email address and a six-digit verification code, then asks the applicant to enter a name and create a password. The form can be shared with team members and partner organisations for collaboration; answers save automatically, but the fund recommends saving each completed section manually and keeping an offline copy. Submit the completed application and attachments through the invited process. Good Grants sends an automatic confirmation email after submission, and the CPF team contacts applicants after assessment, so monitor the account inbox.

The full form asks for detailed answers and supporting documents in English. The September 2026 guidance lists the applicant organisation’s accounts for its last financial year (in English), a partnership agreement outlining partner roles and responsibilities, the completed Activity Plan and Risk Register templates, the Project Budget template, a monthly cashflow, a statement from locally based partner organisations explaining the perceived local need, and at least two or three project images. Caption each image and include copyright information in its file title; applicants must have permission from image owners and identifiable people shown. The supporting-document checklist says the partnership agreement outlines roles and responsibilities but need not be signed or legally binding at application stage. Applications are incomplete without all required supporting documents by the deadline, and the guidance says a project cannot be fully assessed without the Activity Plan or a full budget. For physical works, provide a condition report showing why the work is needed and proof of ownership or permission. A location map or site plan may also be supplied where applicable. For larger requests above £100,000, give deeper evidence of need and delivery approach, such as condition or baseline assessments, key role descriptions and additional support letters. Read the help notes before drafting because many answers have maximum word counts. The fund assesses applications against its criteria, with input from CPF Grant Managers, external specialists and British Council country colleagues. An Approvals Panel makes funding decisions.

Documents and planning for an invited application

The British Council’s supporting documents page lists four current 2026–29 application resources: the CPF Application Guidance updated in September 2026, the Project Activity Plan Template (August 2026), the Project Budget and Cashflow Template (August 2026), and the Risk Register Template (August 2026). Download them from the official supporting documents page and use these versions when preparing an invited application. The guidance’s supporting-document checklist also requires the applicant organisation’s accounts for its last financial year in English, a partnership agreement outlining roles, a local-need statement from locally based partners, a completed activity plan and risk register, a project budget, a monthly cashflow, and two or three project images with captions and copyright information. Projects involving physical work need a condition report and proof of ownership or permission; the guidance also recommends a location map or site plan where applicable. Applications are incomplete if required documents are missing at the deadline.

The activity plan should explain what will happen, when and where it will happen, who is responsible, and how progress will be measured. Connect each activity to a specific protection need and CPF outcome. For example, if the project will improve a collection’s emergency readiness, identify the relevant risks, measures to be put in place, staff or community training, and evidence that will show increased preparedness. If it will document a living practice, explain how practitioners and community members will guide the work and how records will be accessible and responsibly held. For physical work, name each heritage asset and set out the number of assets and scale and type of intervention. The guidance requires a five-year management and maintenance plan for projects involving physical works or newly created digital heritage assets; include the related costs in the project budget.

The budget should cover costs directly caused by the project and make assumptions understandable. The guidance also instructs applicants to include in the year-one budget the cost for one staff member to travel to the UK for a kick-off meeting in January 2027; it states this cost is additional to the overall project budget and does not affect assessment or scoring. The guidance lists heritage protection costs, equipment and materials, staff, travel and subsistence, promotion, evaluation, professional fees and access or inclusion costs as possible direct costs. Overheads are considered case by case and should not exceed 10% of the total project budget. The guidance identifies property purchases, major capital redevelopment, most exchange-rate fluctuation costs and costs that do not benefit the target country, heritage or communities as ineligible. Check the official guidance for the full conditions before preparing the budget.

Use the risk register to identify delivery and sustainability risks and explain mitigation. Depending on the project, this may include safety and security, permissions, environmental conditions, partner capacity, procurement, data handling or the risk that documentation could expose sensitive sites or people. The assessment considers whether risks are well managed, whether the schedule and budget are realistic, and whether the applicants can deliver comparable work. Make risks specific to the context and show who will monitor them.

CPF is classed as official development assistance. The guidance expects funded activity to make a positive contribution to social and economic development in a target country, and says projects should benefit the country and communities rather than promote UK culture or values. Applications should explain who benefits, the development need being addressed, how the work will be applied locally and how outcomes will be assessed. The assessment also considers value for money, evidence of need, heritage significance, impact, inclusion and the urgency of the threat.

Questions applicants commonly ask

Can any organisation apply by 13 October 2026? No. That date is for full applications from organisations invited after the EOI. The EOI stage closed on 20 July 2026, and the British Council says it will only accept invited full applications.

Can an organisation registered outside the target countries lead? Yes. The lead may be registered anywhere, but where it is outside the target country, the project must include a partner registered inside the target country.

Can an individual or sole trader apply? No. The lead applicant must be a legally registered organisation, and sole traders are ineligible.

Is £500,000 the standard award? No. It is the maximum. The British Council expects approximately seven awards between £100,000 and £500,000, and approximately 20 below £100,000; each request should match the project and its delivery capacity.

What should an invited applicant do next? Use the invitation to access the full application on Good Grants, read the September 2026 guidance and help notes, and prepare the listed templates and supporting documents. The current round-specific guidance sets 13 October 2026 as the deadline; the older British Council for Syria page has not been updated from 28 August.

Official information

The British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund 2026 funding-round page is the official page for this call; it returned HTTP 403 in the current check. The accessible 2026–29 Application Guidance, updated 1 September 2026 sets out eligibility, grant size, the process, assessment criteria and a 13 October 2026 application deadline. The full-application date is for accepted EOI applicants only; no new EOI submissions are being accepted. The supporting documents page lists the current templates, and the British Council’s contact page confirms that expressions of interest closed on 20 July 2026.

The British Council for Syria’s Cultural Protection Fund notice still says invited full applications were due 28 August 2026. The newer September 2026 application guidance for the 2026–29 call lists 13 October 2026, so this page uses that current call-specific deadline. It applies only to organisations invited after the EOI; organisations that did not submit an EOI or were not invited cannot enter this round.