MARC FITCH FUND

The Marc Fitch Fund provides small grants  towards the costs of publishing scholarly work in the following fields:

o British and Irish national, regional and local history;
o Archaeology;
o Antiquarian studies;
o Historical geography;
o The history of art and architecture;
o Heraldry, genealogy and surname studies;
o Archival research;
o Artefact conservation and
o The heritage and conservation of the historic environment.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate that the work being funded will make a new and significant contribution to knowledge.

Charitable organisations and individuals in the UK may apply for the following grants:

1. Publication Grants are intended to help with production costs, including the costs of illustrative material; 

2. Research Grants are intended to cover incidental expenses, such as the cost of travel and accommodation within the UK/Ireland to visit archives. They are not intended to cover time spent in research and writing. To qualify, the work must already have been provisionally accepted for publication; 

3. Special Project Grants will be considered from time to time for special projects that do not fit easily into one of the above categories, such as the conservation, cataloguing, scanning, transcription and study of significant primary sources, or the conservation and study of significant artefacts. To qualify, original research and the publication of the results has to be part of the project; and 

4. Journal Digitisation Grants will be considered for applications from local and national archaeological and historical societies towards the costs of publishing their journal backlists online, on condition that the results are made available to all, without charge and in perpetuity. To be eligible for such funding, applicants must be able to demonstrate that they already have 50% of the costs in the bank.

Grants should be the last resort for projects that are at risk of failing without a grant, and where other sources of funds have been exhausted.  Applicants are asked to explain why a grant is necessary and to demonstrate that they have made an effort to secure funding from other sources. 

During the year ending 5 April 2017 the Fund awarded 64 grants totalling £221,899 (£190,605 to organisations and £43,947 to individuals).

The average grants award was £3,467.

A full list of awards made during the year can be found on pages 13 and 14 of the Fund’s annual accounts.

Funding is not available for:

o Works principally concerned with the most recent past (post 1945);
o New or revised editions of works already published;
o Scientific and technical research;
o Fieldwork;
o The costs of getting to the UK/Ireland from overseas;
o Foreign travel nor for research outside the UK/Ireland unless the circumstances are very exceptional;
o Vocational or educational courses of any kind, including postgraduate and doctoral research;
o Building works;
o Mounting or attending conferences;
o Mounting exhibitions; or
o General appeals.

The annual deadlines for applications are 1 March and 1 August.

Applicants should submit a brief outline of their project by email.

If the proposal meets the Fund’s criteria, the relevant application forms are provided.

Further information is available on the Fund’s single-page website.

Contact details for the Fund are:

Christopher Catling
The Marc Fitch Fund
Flat 9
13 Tavistock Place
London
WC1H 9SH
Tel: 0207 387 6580
Email: mail2017@marcfitchfund.org.uk oradmin@marcfitchfund.org.uk

(Source: GRIN)