Marc Fitch Fund Grant

The Marc Fitch Fund is an educational charity established in 1956 by Marc Fitch (1908-1994). It is governed by a Council of Management who are the charity’s trustees.

Our funding streams:

The Marc Fitch Fund makes small grants towards the costs of publishing scholarly work in the fields of British and Irish national, regional and local history, archaeology, antiquarian studies, historical geography, the history of art and architecture, heraldry, genealogy and surname studies, archival research, artefact conservation and the broad fields of the heritage, conservation and the historic environment.

Publication grants: these are intended to help with production costs, including the costs of illustrative material.

Research grants: these 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, your work must already have been provisionally accepted for publication.

Special Project Grants: from time to time the Fund considers applications 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.

Journal digitisation: the Fund is also willing to consider 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 per cent of the costs in the bank.

Our funding criteria:

The Marc Fitch Fund is a fund of last resort, stepping in to assist worthwhile projects that are at risk of failing without a grant, and where other sources of funds have been exhausted. For that reason, we ask applicants to explain why a grant is necessary and to demonstrate that they have made an effort to secure funding from other sources. We place great emphasis on the reports of referees and need to be convinced that the work being funded will make a new and significant contribution to knowledge. Geographical criteria: we only fund research on British and Irish topics. Cut-off date: the Fund does not contribute to works principally concerned with the most recent past (post 1945). Revised works: we do not fund new or revised editions of works already published. Disciplinary criteria: the Fund does not contribute to scientific and technical research, only work in the humanities and social sciences; we do not fund fieldwork, only the publication of the results of such work. Travel exclusions: we do not fund the costs of getting to the UK/Ireland from overseas; we do not pay for foreign travel nor for research outside the UK/Ireland unless the circumstances are very exceptional. Other exclusions: grants are not given in connection with vocational or educational courses of any kind, including postgraduate and doctoral research; awards are not made for building works nor for mounting or attending conferences, nor for mounting exhibitions; the Fund never contributes to general appeals.

How to apply:

Prospective applicants should submit a brief outline of their project by e-mail. If the proposal meets the Fund’s criteria, the relevant application forms will be provided.

When to apply:

The Council of Management meets in spring and autumn to consider applications; the deadlines for receipt of completed applications and references are 1 March and 1 August.