The Purchase Grant Fund is administered by the V&A with the grants budget provided by the MLA, which made £900,000 available for 2009-10.
It contributes to the purchase of objects relating to the arts, literature and history by museums, galleries, record repositories and specialist libraries in England and Wales. Through the acquisitions it supports, this fund aims to help and develop the quality and standards of regional collections for the understanding and enjoyment of the public.
Accreditation or adoption of The National Archives’ Standard for Record Repositories are basic requirements.
Objects, collections or archives of any date costing between £500 and £300,000 are eligible for support. Normally, grants of no more than 50% of the purchase price, to a maximum of £80,000, are awarded. Local financial commitment is required: the Fund may give up to £4 for every £1 of locally-raised funding.
A rolling programme is in place with decisions normally made weekly, apart from purchases costing over £60,000 which are considered monthly. Decisions are normally given within three to four weeks of receipt of all necessary information.
A minimum of five working days is required to consider applications for objects being sold at auction.
For more information visit the V&A's website.
For an application form, initial discussion on making an application and any queries, please contact the V&A's Regional Liaison Team:
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7942 2536
E-mail: purchasegrantfund@vam.ac.uk
Purchase Grant Fund
Victoria and Albert Museum
South Kensington
London SW7 2RL