Scouloudi Foundation

Charity Number: 205685

Annual Expenditure: £0.5M
Geographic Focus: Throughout England

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Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: £515,087 (2024/25)
  • Success Rate: Not applicable (invitation only/trustee discretion)
  • Decision Time: Varies by programme
  • Grant Range: £100 - £15,726
  • Geographic Focus: England, with particular focus on historical research

Contact Details

Address: Haysmacintyre, Thames Exchange, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1AG

Email: pholden@haysmacintyre.com

Phone: 020 7969 5500

Charity Number: 205685

Overview

The Scouloudi Foundation was established in 1962 under a trust deed later amended in 2022. Named after historian and philanthropist Irene Scouloudi (1907-1992), the foundation operates as a grant-making charity with the objective “to distribute its income to all classes of charity as recognised by English Law.” With total expenditure of £515,087 in the 2024/25 financial year, the foundation has established itself as a significant supporter of historical research and scholarship in the UK. The foundation's strategic approach focuses primarily on supporting historians at all career stages through partnerships with prestigious institutions including the Royal Historical Society and the Institute of Historical Research. In 2025, the foundation significantly expanded its funding programmes, launching several new grant schemes to support collaborative and public-facing historical work.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The Scouloudi Foundation supports historical research through several established programmes administered by partner institutions:

IHR Scouloudi Doctoral Fellowships

  • Full-year fellowship: £15,726
  • Half-year fellowship: £7,863
  • Up to seven half-year fellowship equivalents offered annually
  • Administered by the Institute of Historical Research
  • For PhD students in the completion stage (2-4 years full-time, up to 6 years part-time)

Scouloudi Historical Awards: Research Awards (IHR)

  • £100 - £1,000 per award
  • For research expenses in completion of advanced historical work intended for publication
  • Emphasis on economic and social history

Scouloudi Historical Awards: Publication Awards (IHR)

  • £100 - £1,000 per award
  • To subsidise costs of publishing scholarly books, articles, or journal issues
  • Paid at final proof stage when publication is well-advanced

RHS Scouloudi Public History Grants

  • £1,000 per award
  • Up to four awards per round
  • For collaborative projects between historians in higher education and public history sectors (GLAM sector/community history groups)
  • Project period: July to June annually
  • Rolling application deadlines (next: 5 June 2026)

RHS Scouloudi Panel Grants

  • £1,500 per panel
  • Up to two awards per round
  • For conference panels of 3-4 historians
  • Covers conference fees, travel, and accommodation

RHS Masters' Scholarships

  • £5,000 per scholarship
  • Co-funded with Past & Present Society
  • For postgraduate study in history

Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships

  • Amount not publicly specified
  • Supported by the Scouloudi Foundation

Priority Areas

  • Historical research across all periods and themes (with traditional emphasis on economic and social history)
  • Public history and community engagement
  • Collaborative research projects between academic and non-academic historians
  • Support for early career historians
  • Doctoral completion funding
  • Academic publication support
  • Conference participation for collaborative panels

What They Don't Fund

While the foundation's broad remit allows support for “all classes of charity as recognised by English Law,” in practice:

  • The foundation does not accept unsolicited applications
  • Focus is heavily on historical research and education rather than other charitable sectors
  • Projects without clear historical research or public history components
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Governance and Leadership

Trustees

Sarah Elizabeth Baxter (Chair) - Appointed 2011

Also serves as a trustee of the Monday Charitable Trust

James Sewell OBE - Appointed 1998

Long-serving trustee with over 25 years' experience

Wendy Proctor - Appointed 2023

Rachel Strother - Appointed 2024

No trustees receive any remuneration, payments, or benefits from the charity. The foundation has no employees with benefits over £60,000 and no trading subsidiaries.

Administrative Support: Haysmacintyre provides accounting and administrative services to the foundation.

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

The Scouloudi Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications. All grants are made through established partnerships with the Institute of Historical Research and the Royal Historical Society, or at the trustees' discretion.

To access Scouloudi funding, historians should apply through the foundation's partner institutions:

For IHR Programmes (Doctoral Fellowships, Research Awards, Publication Awards):

  • Apply directly through the Institute of Historical Research
  • Visit www.history.ac.uk for detailed application procedures
  • Applications typically assessed by IHR committees

For RHS Programmes (Public History Grants, Panel Grants, Masters' Scholarships):

  • Apply through the Royal Historical Society's online portal
  • Visit royalhistsoc.org for programme-specific guidelines
  • At least one lead applicant must be a current RHS Fellow or Member for collaborative grants

Decision Timeline

IHR Doctoral Fellowships: Applications reviewed annually; fellowships tenable for 6 months to 1 year depending on expected completion timeline

RHS Scouloudi Public History Grants:

  • Application window: 23 March - 5 June
  • Projects run July to June

RHS Scouloudi Panel Grants:

  • Application window: 23 March - 5 June
  • For conferences between 1 September and 31 July

Research and Publication Awards: Rolling basis through IHR

Success Rates

Success rates for individual programmes vary by partner institution. In the 2024/25 financial year, the Royal Historical Society awarded nearly £150,000 in small grant funding to historians with generous assistance from partner organizations including the Scouloudi Foundation.

2025 RHS Programme Recipients:

  • Public History Grants: 4 awards made in first round
  • Panel Grants: 2 awards made in first round
  • Masters' Scholarships: 4 awards made

Reapplication Policy

Reapplication policies are determined by the partner institutions administering each programme. The IHR and RHS typically allow reapplication, though specific restrictions may apply to individual schemes.

Application Success Factors

For RHS Scouloudi Public History Grants

The Royal Historical Society assesses applications based on:

  1. Co-productive Activity: Projects must demonstrate genuine collaboration between academic and public history practitioners. Recent successful projects include partnerships between universities and archives, museums, heritage sites, and community history groups.
  1. Innovation in Public History: The foundation prioritizes “innovative practice in public history” that advances how historical knowledge is shared beyond academia.
  1. Limited Alternative Funding: Preference given to projects with limited access to other funding sources, recognizing funding inequalities in the sector.
  1. Practical Deliverables: Successful 2025 projects included specific outputs such as participatory workshops, re-interpretation projects, and co-produced knowledge initiatives.

For RHS Scouloudi Panel Grants

Successful panels demonstrate:

  1. Collaborative Diversity: Panels must bring together speakers from at least two different institutions and include at least one early career historian.
  1. Cross-Sector Participation: Panels should include practitioners from higher education, professional historical sectors (museums, archives, heritage, broadcasting), or independent scholars.
  1. Thematic Coherence: Strong panels present research on shared historical themes that benefit from collaborative discussion.

For IHR Awards

The Institute of Historical Research emphasizes:

  1. Eligibility Compliance: Candidates must be UK citizens or graduates of UK universities with honours or postgraduate degrees in history.
  1. Publication Intent: Research awards require clear intention to publish results; publication awards require acceptance by reputable publishers.
  1. Stage of Research: Doctoral fellows must be in the completion stage (2-4 years full-time research completed, not exceeding 6 years part-time).

Examples of Successful Projects

2025 Public History Grant Recipients:

  • Rachel Dishington & Sarah Colborne: 'Living and Working Along the Leen' (University of Nottingham/Archives partnership)
  • Iqbal Singh & Eleanor Newbigin: Participatory workshops on colonial history (National Archives/SOAS partnership)
  • Kathleen McIlvenna & Kate Crossley: Re-interpreting Florence Nightingale in Derbyshire (University of Derby/Arkwright Society)
  • Rachel Delman & James Spellane: 'London's Watery Heritage' project on Charterhouse Water Maps (Oxford/The Charterhouse)

2025 Panel Grant Recipients:

  • 'Commons and Communities: Celebrating Professor Andy Wood' panel at NACBS Montreal
  • 'Continuities and Challenges: Women's Politics and Activism in 1970s Britain' panel

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Apply Through Partner Institutions: Direct applications to the foundation are not accepted. Access funding through IHR or RHS programmes.
  • RHS Membership Required: For RHS programmes, at least one lead applicant must be a current RHS Fellow or Member.
  • Emphasize Collaboration: For public history and panel grants, demonstrate genuine co-production between different types of historical practitioners (academic, GLAM sector, community).
  • Focus on Early Career Support: Many programmes explicitly prioritize or require involvement of early career historians.
  • UK Connection Essential: Most programmes require UK citizenship or a degree from a UK university, reflecting the foundation's England-wide operational scope.
  • Document Alternative Funding Gaps: For RHS grants, explicitly address limited access to other funding sources to strengthen applications.
  • Plan Timeline Carefully: Most RHS programmes have fixed annual application windows (typically March-June), while IHR awards may operate on different cycles.

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