The History Faculty is committed to supporting ethical, egalitarian projects in community history, which should fully respect the time, energy and knowledge contributed by all participants to research and public engagement activity. Making your project an inclusive, fair and egalitarian one can take some time and careful planning. Here you can find some helpful resources and published research on ‘community history in action’, which you can read through to help you design and frame your project.

The literature listed below is available to read via the Bodleian Libraries. If you need help accessing any of it, feel free to get in touch with Dr Atwal at community@history.ox.ac.uk. Similarly, please write in if you have relevant material or publications to add to our reading list.

There is a wealth of groups, organisations and individuals doing incredible work to document, preserve and promote the local and community history of Oxford and Oxfordshire. You can contact such bodies to gain access to a rich variety of sources and archives for pursuing your research, as well as to find potential partners to team up with. We’ve provided a list of contact details here, but the field of community history activity is growing rapidly, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for new groups that may be starting out in the local area.

You can also explore the research expertise and specialisms of History Faculty staff on our website. Email details for researchers are usually available on staff profile pages, or you can contact Dr Atwal for additional help.

The list below provides details of funding available locally and nationally for community and local history/heritage projects. Please note that while many of these funders offer financial support for projects throughout the UK, the History Faculty is only able to assist with initiatives and collaborations that are focused on Oxford and Oxfordshire.

You are welcome to contact Dr Atwal with queries about funding and pursuing partnerships with members of the History Faculty.  

Staff and students in the History Faculty are also advised to contact the Research Facilitator Louis Hudson about seeking internal Faculty funding for projects and activities, or for help with applying for grants from any of the  listed sources.

Charitable and community funding:

• The Greening Lambourn Trust - The Greening Lambourn Trust exclusively funds local history projects in Oxfordshire.
• The National Lottery Heritage Fund
• The Heritage Funding Directory - The Funding For All website has a detailed section for heritage-related funding options.
•  The Aurelius Trust
• The Marc Fitch Fund - Please note that this is listed as a ‘fund of last resort’.
• Local businesses - Local businesses may fund projects through sponsorship or by application if approached directly with worthy proposals.

University of Oxford funding:

• Small community grants scheme - A total of up to £50,000 is available annually in small grants.
• The University has departmental seed funds available for public engagement activities
• The University has departmental seed funds available for knowledge exchange projects
• The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities (TORCH) - Researchers can also individually apply to The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities (TORCH) for funding as a Knowledge Exchange Fellow.

Funding from large research bodies:

• AHRC Connected Communities scheme
• Wellcome Trust’s public engagement funding initiatives