Memorial Grant Scheme

Grants are available for registered charities or faith groups to help with VAT on the construction, repair and maintenance of public memorial structures in the UK for work which took place on or after 16 March 2005.

The Memorial Grant Scheme is a VAT reclaim scheme which means the funding is intended to cover the costs of VAT already paid.

The funding is intended for registered charities or faith groups excepted from registering as a charity to help with the cost of works like repairing and cleaning public memorials or installing a new memorial.

The memorial can commemorate a person/people, an animal/s or event/s.

The funding can only be provided for works that have already taken place. It cannot be used for future works. Part-funding is available for ongoing work for parts of the work which have been completed.

Registered charities and faith groups excepted from registering as a charity can apply.

Charities and faith groups who are not registered for VAT can apply for funding on any VAT charged for eligible costs.

The grants are for the construction, repair and maintenance of public memorial structures which are located in the UK or overseas, provided UK VAT has been charged for a relevant cost.

The work must have taken place on or after 16 March 2005. This includes the construction of new memorials, and the repair and maintenance of existing memorials.

To be eligible, the memorial must:

Be a public memorial
Be a structure or involve construction
Have a commemorative purpose
Be single purpose.
Be accessible to the public allowing people to visit, reflect, and pay their respects. The public must have access for at least 30 hours per week.

The funding is for relevant costs which are:

Services provided by a VAT-registered contractor, such as

construction of an eligible type of memorial
cleaning
repairs
removal of graffiti
repainting or other decoration
minor landscaping of areas around a memorial (where it is part of other eligible work)
minor landscaping in the course of memorial construction.

Full details, including examples of what can and cannot be funded are in the guidance notes.

The current deadline for applications is 30 September 2024 (23:55). Applications received after this date will be reviewed in the next round of funding.

Full details…