All of which brings us back to reinventing the wheel - is it really
necessary for each and every SMR to familiarise itself with every pot of
money potentially available for SMR work? Is this not something much better
done at a national level, with the information circulated via ALGAO and/or
the SMR Forum?
Dinah
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 13 June 2001 10:07
Subject: Re: HLF Session at the SMRUG Meeting
>Dear all,
>
>a few thoughts on lottery grants for SMR projects from someone who has been
>through the process and now stands on the dawn of a new era clutching lots
of
>cash from HLF (and from NOF for a separate but related bid).
>
>Durham SMR does not have loads of staff and we certainly do not have a big
fat
>budget to throw around, what we have done is to undertake both bids in
>partnership with a neighbouring authority (Northumberland CC) and perhaps
more
>importantly get our in- house county council IT, webteam, education and
others
>enthused and excited about the whole idea so that we can use their budgets
and
>resources. Broadening out the good news about how many corporate aims an
smr can
>support can prove exceptionally useful and mean a small hard pressed
archaeology
>team can gain a lot of help.
>
>As regards the bid documents themselves, as we were one of the first to
submit a
>bid I think we may have been lucky in that ourselves, HLF and their
advisors(NMR
>probably but never actually named during our correspondence), were all on a
>steep learning curve about what information should be in a bid. We ended up
>putting in a bid followed by 3 rounds of quite serious additional
supporting
>documentation upon demand, all of this was specific to our individual case
and
>project design and was not just regurgitating Unlocking the past and other
>readily available documents so there was a fair bit of work but once more
spread
>between tow local authorities. I would guess they may not be quite so
>understanding in future unless bids have much more detail in to begin with.
>
>In the end our bid was approved and the level of grant was actually raised
by
>HLF request as they thought it was too cheap..so don't be afraid to ask for
lots
>at a high %. As for how much real cash as opposed to contributions in kind
the
>project will cost, those of you who have submitted lottery bids before will
know
>that with creative but not fraudulent accountancy, amazingly large sums can
be
>generated to make sure you get the maximum % of HLF grant for real costs
outside
>of available operating budgets. This still leaves you the costs of
developing a
>bid, but if you use this time to solicit support and awareness from local
>authority colleagues and the public I would venture this is money and time
well
>spent
>
>Our experience of applying to NOF was quite different to HLF, this project
is
>funded under their digitise programme and we proposed a scheme to provide
>digital access to dusty old excavation archives through virtual reality
>modelling and digitising aspects of the paper archive for delivery over the
web.
>NOF had a two stage application process on pro-forma emailable documents
which
>only needed the addition of a business plan for which once more clear
guidance
>on form and content was available. Funding was in theory available up to
100%.
>This programme is now closed but I Believe the approach is a useful model
HLF
>could follow for SMR bids. NOF do have other programmes available which
could
>lend themselves to smr digitisation projects. Additionally the new
cultureonline
>initiative has money for developing the content not just the access
arrangements
>for digital resources and this in theory could provide grant for SMR
enhancement
>projects but only where they will be available over the web.
>
>Summary message is evangelise you local authority to help with your
bid...don't
>be a martyr and do it yourself, consider a joint bid, and keep a look out
for
>all those digitisation and egovernment funding opportunities out there and
be
>creative!
>
>
>Niall
>
>
>Niall Hammond
>County Archaeology Officer
>Arts, Libraries and Museums Department
>Durham County Council
>Durham
>DH1 5TY Tel 0191 383 4212.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>_____________________________________________________________________
>This message has been checked for all known viruses by Star Internet
>delivered through the MessageLabs Virus Scanning Service. For further
>information visit http://www.star.net.uk/stats.asp or alternatively call
>01285 884400.
|