June 2026 will mark a decade since the launch of the Cultural Protection Fund, a partnership between British Council and the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
This year, with renewed funding of £7.8m from the UK Government until March 2026, the Cultural Protection Fund will extend grants of £4.5m to 44 projects in 17 countries to enhance the impact of their previous activities.
This includes renewed grant awards to:
- National Museum of Kenya to deliver education, training and awareness raising activities to further protect the site of the 1.5-million-year-old hominin footprints threatened by climate change-driven erosion
- Natural Roots Foundation who will deliver workshops, publish recipes and complete a valuable digital repository of indigenous food heritage and practices endangered by climate change
- Ettijahat who will build further capacity and expertise in protecting and promoting intangible cultural heritage in Syria through training, community dialogues and artistic activities
Alongside its funded projects the CPF will continue to support capacity building activities, integral research and evaluation and emergency response for heritage across the target countries. The 2025-26 programme will also include a series of events, publications and other engagement activities showcasing the impact of the CPF in the lead up to the 10th anniversary.
Stephanie Grant, Director of the Cultural Protection Fund states:
'This funding extension is an acknowledgement of the increasing demand for a UK response to the challenges facing our global cultural heritage. The projects we have renewed are doing incredible work to make positive changes to communities whose heritage is endangered. We are grateful to our partners, DCMS for their support of the continuation of the fund and we are optimistic that CPF will continue beyond 2026.'
