Waterford City & County Council has announced that the Heritage Council is accepting applications for its Community Heritage Grant.

Applications for the grant are open to community groups and not for profit non-governmental organisations in Waterford.

A broad range of project types are eligible for funding under the scheme including:

• Conservation works to collections, objects or places, including natural heritage projects e.g. control of invasive species or habitat restoration works; conservation works to buildings, including churches; stabilisation works to ruined structures;

• Surveys, reports, plans, and audits to inform the future management of buildings and monuments, habitats, collections, or objects.

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• Accessibility projects that make heritage activities more accessible for people with disabilities e.g. building ramps, automatic doors, handrails, tactile interpretation

• Projects that help people engage more with their heritage e.g. interactive maps, videos, virtual exhibitions, podcasts, websites

• Purchase of specialised equipment e.g archival boxing for vulnerable documents, monitoring equipment for humidity or light, interpretation/multimedia equipment, specialised software

• Projects that address the heritage of minority groups e.g an oral history project documenting Traveller heritage

• Training in traditional skills and crafts e.g. workshops on skills such as roofing, thatch, dry stone walling etc.

• Citizen science projects on environmental conservation

Last year, seven Waterford-based projects were funded through the scheme. These included the restoration of an 18th century oil painting of the Medieval Cathedral in Waterford, and the funding conservation management report of a Well House at Mount Malleray Abbey.

The minimum grant that can be requested through the scheme is €500. The maximum is €25,000.

Applications close on 25 March 2024 at 5.00 pm, funded projects must be completed by 15 November 2024. The Heritage Council will host a Zoom information webinar on the scheme at 12 noon on the 4 March with general application advice followed by a question and answers session.