National Manuscripts Conservation Trust

The National Manuscripts Conservation Trust is dedicated to safeguarding the UK's written heritage through preservation of at-risk manuscripts and archives, ensuring their longevity for public access and scholarly research. Established with a vision of responsible stewardship, their core values emphasize best-practice conservation, skills development through training and knowledge transfer, and maximizing public benefit by enabling ongoing research, public engagement, and cultural transmission. They believe transformative impact arises from targeted interventions that prolong fragile collections' lives, empower non-national institutions beyond their resources, and foster professional capacity in conservation, prioritizing projects blending preservation with training for enduring heritage protection.

They prioritize conservation, repair, and preservation of locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally significant manuscript collections, including historical documents, literary manuscripts, scientific records, architectural archives, armorials, papyrus fragments, union archives, and early manuscript sequences held in county record offices, museums, university archives, cathedral libraries, and specialist collecting institutions. Supported activities encompass binding, structural repairs, stabilization measures, and digitisation integrated within broader conservation efforts to prevent deterioration and loss, alongside training components like internships, apprenticeships, and conservator knowledge transfer to build sector skills. These interventions address threats of physical decay and inaccessibility, creating impact through enhanced public access, research facilitation, and sustainable stewardship that supports cultural heritage vitality, educational outreach, and professional development in preservation techniques.

They exclude capital projects, equipment purchases, core operational costs, unrestricted funding, and standalone digitisation initiatives lacking conservation focus. Distinctive as the UK's sole grant-giver dedicated exclusively to manuscript conservation, they prioritize non-national institutions stewarding collections of specialist significance, with a strong emphasis on training integration, public accessibility requirements, and best-practice adherence across England, Wales, and Scotland, favoring projects amplifying research, engagement, and skills transmission in cultural heritage preservation.