Grants

The Oxfordshire Buildings Trust offers small grants towards the cost of repair and maintenance of historic buildings, in recognition of the extra costs involved in carrying out such specialist work. The Trust's Board includes local authority representatives and professionals with an interest in conservation and the historic environment.

The Trust has made numerous grants to aid conservation work in Oxfordshire. These include the Martyrs Memorial in Oxford, Abingdon County Hall, Dorchester Abbey and the windmills at Wheatley and Great Haseley.

Recent grants have been made to:

• The Sinodun Players for the restoration of the roof of Wallingford Corn Exchange
• Uffington Parish Council for structural repairs to the chalkstone ashlar walls of Tom Brown’s Museum in Uffington
• The National Trust for works at Nuffield Place.

Those eligible for grants will normally be non-profit making organisations with heritage projects which provide a public benefit. Grants are not normally available for private or commercial premises, churches or religious buildings.

Assessment of Applications

In assessing applications, the Trust will take into account the architectural and historic interest of the building; its scarcity value; its value to the community including its accessibility and visibility to the public; its value as part of a group; the resources of the applicant and the availability of grant aid from other sources.

All decisions to offer a grant are discretionary and are subject to the availability of finance. The amount of money currently available for grant assistance is limited and the trust normally makes only 3 or 4 grants each year.

A grant will normally be based on the lowest quotation received, but the works proposed in the lowest quotation may not always be the most appropriate.

Only one application per organisation can be considered in any one financial year.

Applying for a Grant

All applications must be on the official application form which will be provided following a successful initial assessment.

The grant application form should be completed and returned to the Secretary of the Trust together with copies of three quotes and a detailed specification of the work. In some instances, the Trust may require additional information such as structural surveys or specialist conservation reports.

On receipt of the application, members of the Trust will arrange to visit the building. The application cannot proceed if work commences before this visit.

If work has commenced or been completed prior to the application being made, it will not be considered by the Trust.

If the request is approved, you will receive a formal written offer of a grant, with conditions, for your acceptance. Applicants must confirm acceptance of a grant within 28 days of receiving an offer from the Trust.

• A grant offer will lapse after two years and application will have to be made again.
• The Trust must be notified when the work has both commenced and has been completed. Grants will normally be paid on satisfactory completion of the works and the submission of receipted invoices.

• Recognition of the contribution of The Oxfordshire Buildings Trust must be included in any publicity or acknowledgment of the building work.
• The Trust may require a grant to be repaid in full, if, within five years of the grant being made, the building is sold or otherwise disposed of.