Priorities for Culture Capital Grant Funding 2025 to 2026: guidance

The Welsh Government’s Priorities for Culture, published in May 2025, provides a strategic policy framework against which we will consider our priorities for capital investment in the local museums, libraries, and archives sectors. Separate capital funding award schemes are being run for the arts sector via Arts Council Wales.

When considering capital investment, the Priorities for Culture include ambitions which relate to: 

• Ensuring culture is inclusive, accessible and diverse;
• Reflecting the needs and aspirations of children and young people;
• Caring for our collections and assets
• Supporting good digital practice, and
• Supporting sustainable development, achieving net-zero, and tackling the climate and nature emergencies.

This grant scheme will focus on delivering those ambitions.

As part of your application you will be asked to identify which ambition(s) your project aligns to. We will accept applications that span multiple ambitions e.g. improvements to infrastructure that contribute towards net zero and improve accessibility. You may also wish to apply under just one ambition e.g. caring for collections/assets.

You may submit multiple applications, providing that there is no duplication of activity across projects. Please be aware this grant scheme is competitive, and applicants may wish to prioritise the applications they submit.

The maximum grant available for each organisation, partnership or consortium is £200,000. The minimum is £20,000.

The grant cannot be used as match-funding for larger capital projects but can be used to pay for capital work that falls within a wider development project providing:

• The award can be matched to an area of work which aligns to the purposes listed above, with appropriate evidence provided;
• The grant can be claimed, within the specified timeframe.
• Payment will be made in arrears unless there is compelling evidence for a grant or a proportion of a grant in advance of need.

We will not fund any work completed or partially completed before the date of an award for any successful grant.

This fund is exclusively for: 

1. Accredited or Working Towards Accredited Museums under the UK Museums Accreditation Scheme who are:

• Independent museums – types 1 to 3
• Local authority museums – types 1 to 3
• University museums – types 1 to 3; and

2. Local authority run library services, statutory public libraries in trust or community managed libraries; and
    
3. Accredited or committed to achieving Accreditation within an agreed timescale following the completion of the project under the UK Archive Accreditation Scheme and are:

• Local authority archive services – types 1 and 2; or
• Universities and Libraries with Special Collections and Archives

You must be able to complete all work and claim your grant in full by 31 March 2026. 

The funding for this programme is for capital costs only. Eligible expenditure includes work which ultimately delivers a physical or digital asset where the outcomes are clearly aligned with the priority areas. This could include building and engineering work, creation of digital assets, professional fees, fittings, equipment, digital infrastructure. If you have any queries regarding the eligibility of your project, please contact us at culture@gov.wales.

Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:

Ensuring culture is inclusive, accessible and diverse and

Reflecting the needs and aspirations of children and young people

• Physical improvements to support improved facilities for disabled, neurodiverse visitors and/or service users with additional needs. This could include building work to improve visitor flow and physical access; improvements to lifts and toilets, including changing places toilets; equipment to increase access to collections, interpretation and displays by those with impairments and/or disabilities; accessible equipment and furniture.
• Redevelopment of spaces to include more inclusive visitor and user offers, including interpretation and exhibitions, focussing on improving facilities for and representation of diverse communities such as faith groups, age (including for children and young people), older people, gender, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic with a particular focus on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. We actively encourage projects that adopt an intersectional approach to equality. Intersectionality acknowledges that individuals experience overlapping forms of discrimination based on characteristics such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, gender, sexual orientation, and more.

Caring for our collections and assets

• Improvements to / replacement of existing plant and/or equipment to improve environmental conditions and support decarbonisation;
• External improvements to buildings that eliminate risks to collections from water ingress and improve/protect the asset;
• Installation of insulation that stabilises environments for collections;
• Environmental Monitoring systems, including equipment to enable access to such systems by volunteers and staff, and
• Retrofitting existing spaces for use as collection stores. 

Up to a maximum of 15% of project costs can be for packaging and storage materials.  

Supporting good digital practice

• Digitisation of collections
• Conservation work required to digitise collection items
• Digital preservation infrastructure and asset management systems
• Collections management systems, including equipment such as laptops or desktop computers to enable access to such management systems by volunteers and staff
• Creation of accessible websites

Supporting sustainable development, achieving net-zero, and tackling the climate and nature emergencies

• Works to building infrastructure to improve environment and reduce carbon footprint, for example, to roofs and windows, installation of more efficient boilers and heating systems, installation of solar or alternative renewable energy, replacement of lighting systems to LED adding to the building’s value
• Works to outdoor areas to support nature, biodiversity and wellbeing

Applicants may ask for up to 10% of the grant award to support specific project management staff costs. A breakdown of this must be included in your application costings.

We recognise the principle of Full Cost Recovery in delivering the project; costs should however be proportionate to the grant requested and detailed in the application. Further details on the principles of Full Cost Recovery and guidance on appropriate models for calculating a fair contribution to overheads can be found here: Full Cost Recovery

All support will be awarded in line with the UK’s subsidy control commitments. Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis for the potential for incompatible subsidy.

Please read these Guidance Notes carefully before completing the form. All applications must be submitted on the Application Form provided.

The information you provide will be dependent on the nature, type and the scale of the project and its proposed activity or investment. All projects should explain their approach to project delivery including any specialist advice sought, with documentary evidence where relevant.

Please ensure that the information you provide is as accurate as possible. If you are successful, the information provided will form the basis of our grant award letter which is a legally binding agreement.

A number of different documents and sources of information may be submitted in support of the application where relevant to the project. Such documentation might include, but is not limited to:

• business plans;
• technical documentation such as design and specification for buildings;
• planning permissions, building regulation approvals, premises use approvals;
• equalities impact assessment;
• environmental impact assessments;
• feasibility studies;
• evidence of procurement exercises / other cost comparisons; and
• details of key project delivery staff experience / expertise.

Your completed application must be submitted to culture@gov.wales by 5pm 1 August 2025. All sections of the Application Form must be completed. Incomplete or late forms will not be accepted. 

Application window opens: 9 June 2025

Application Deadline: 1 August 2025  

Decisions issued: Week commencing 1 September 2025

Your application will be checked for eligibility before it goes forward for full assessment. These checks will cover:

• organisational health, including Charity Commission annual returns (where applicable) and accounts
• eligibility of costs
• project timescales
• supplier information, including written estimates from ALL suppliers
• confirmation that any required permissions (planning permission, listed building consent, etc.) will be in place by the proposed project start date. If you are unable to provide evidence that all required permissions are in place before your proposed project start date, your grant offer will be withdrawn. 

If your application fails any of these checks, it will be rejected.

The Application Form includes completion of a Project Plan (section 3 of the form); this is based on a standard template that has seven headings: 

• Strategic Fit / Project Aim and Rationale
• Project Activity
• Project Management (including Risk Assessment)
• Value for Money
• Finance & Compliance
• Measuring Success

A description of each heading and the evidence required is provided in section 4 of this Guidance Note.

The information provided under each of these headings will be used in the assessment process as the basis for decisions about the award of grant assistance to eligible projects.

The amount of detail given in each section must be appropriate and proportionate to the scope and scale of the intended project.

The information provided will be assessed against the following rating criteria:

An Assessment Panel will review your applications against the evidence requirements set out in section 4 of this guidance. The rating awarded will be dependent on the quality of information and evidence provided in each section of the Project Plan and related supporting documentation.  

The quality threshold across all scored areas is 60. If your application fails to reach the quality threshold in any area, the project will be rejected.

Please ensure that the information you provide addresses each of the area suggested in the guidance for each heading below.

Project Aim, Rationale and Strategic Fit (3.1) (maximum 750 words)

You need to provide an explanation of:

Why the project is necessary

Explain the need your project meets, and how this was identified referencing specific evidence of need.

Your project objectives

List the objectives of the project – there is no set number, include as many or as few as necessary.

Strategic Fit

Explain how your project will help deliver against Welsh Government’s Priorities for Culture.

Project Activity (3.2) (maximum 750 words)

Provide an explanation of:

What you propose to do

Provide details of the structural / building works and /or equipment purchase that will be carried out as part of the project and attach plans.

Provide details of improvements to fixtures and fittings and attach any drawings / plans.

How you propose to do it and the standards you will work to

Provide details of how the project will be delivered, and any specialist advice you have received to inform your plans.

Identify relevant standards and explain how you will ensure your project meets these and is of high quality.

A timetable for the delivery of your project

Provide a gantt chart as an attachment to your application form. 

Project Management (3.3) (maximum 750 words)

You need to provide an explanation of:

Project management arrangements

Explain your plans for managing the project, with due regard to the activities required, and available capacity.

Set out the experience of the Project Manager, project team and the roles of key staff who will be involved in the delivery of the project.

Outline any impacts the project may have on wider service delivery. 

Skills and resources

Explain how the operational, technical, financial and personnel skills to successfully deliver the project will be made available.

Explain how the resources necessary to successfully deliver the project will be made available. 

Key Milestones for Delivery (not included in word limit)

Complete the table provided. 

Risk and risk management (not included in word limit)

Using the table provided set out a summary of the key risks that might affect the delivery of the project, and the achievement of its outputs and outcomes. 

The likelihood of the risk happening should be assessed in line with the following scale:

• High – There is a strong likelihood that this event will happen under current operational conditions.
• Medium – There is a moderate chance that this event will occur based on past experience and organisational context.
• Low– The chances are low that this event will happen, it has never or rarely occurred in past experience.  

Value for Money (3.4) (maximum 500 words)

You need to provide an explanation of:

Determination of costs

Explain how the estimated costs have been arrived at.

Show how costs have been determined to be reasonable by reference to quotation exercises; standard costs from previous activities; etc.

Value for money

Where appropriate show how different options for the achievement of the project objectives have been considered and explain how and why the chosen option was selected.

Complete the finance spreadsheet provided

Include details of all proposed expenditure for all elements of your project in the spreadsheet provided 

• Please provide an outline payment schedule in the spreadsheet provided. Costs should be claimed in line with expenditure throughout the lifetime of the grant.
• Attach copies of written estimates from suppliers for all costs identified. Applications without estimates, or which are otherwise incomplete, will be rejected.  

Finance & Compliance (3.5) (band A – max. 500 words)

You need to provide an explanation of:

Project finance 

Please outline any previous funding received from the Welsh Government or applications currently in progress, relevant to this project. 

Process for purchasing goods and services 

Outline your organisation’s purchasing procedures / procurement process for obtaining goods and services. We expect organisations to be able to evidence good practice in ensuring that the tendering process is competitive. 

Measuring success (3.6) (maximum 500 words)

You need to provide an explanation of:

Expected outcomes

Outline the expected project outcomes. 

Monitoring and evaluation

Provide details of how you will monitor, measure and evaluate the impact, of the outcomes related to your project as noted above. 

Performance Indicators

Provide up to 3 SMART performance indicators that measure the success of your project, in line with the expected project outcomes. 

A SMART indicator should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Funded projects will provide updates on their progress to their named Grant Advisor. Frequency of these updates will be discussed and agreed on award.

All claims must be submitted on the template provided to you at the point of award. This must be accompanied with a brief written update of progress on project activities.

Any proposed changes to the costs or delivery agreed for the project need to be agreed in writing, in advance of them being implemented.

If you need to discuss any element of your application, please contact the Culture Division via culture@gov.wales.