AGS Travel Award

The AGS Travel Awards were initially funded by a Cheshire member of the Society, Murray Bartlett, who was conscious that he and his family had been privileged to travel around Europe to see alpines growing in the wild. He established a modest fund to assist young persons travelling to see alpines, which the Society has since supplemented with funds from its tour company, AGS expeditions Ltd, and other income.

The original terms of the award were extended to include students and employees in the horticultural sector wishing to join scientific expeditions. In 2023, they were revised to align more closely with the Society’s charitable objectives of promoting the conservation of and education about alpines, and to reflect the growing emphasis on sustainability.

E.F. Hendry Fund

This grant was established as a result of a legacy from a previous member of the Society, the late Evelyn F. Hendry.

Small Projects Conservation Grant

The Society’s conservation grant was established in 2021 to further its objective of supporting the conservation of alpines. It has an international reach, with projects being supported in, inter alia, Europe, the US and Armenia. The grant focuses on supporting conservation work that may not otherwise occur.

Local Activity Support Grant

This was created in 2024 to support activities at the local level that promote the AGS, either the national society or a local group, to the public. It is open to AGS local groups and individuals. Potential projects include developing a rock garden in a public space and leading guided walks for the public to highlight local flora.

Scope of Awards

The AGS Travel Award provides funds to any individual looking to travel to see alpines growing in the wild and/or in cultivation. It covers tours organised by the AGS and other professional organisations, as well as self-organised tours.

The Hendry Fund covers research on any aspect of alpine plants in the wild or in cultivation, including work on plant systematics, physiology, ecology, cultivation and propagation. This could involve fieldwork but the fund is not intended primarily for travel costs. In addition, the fund supports the development of alpine plant gardens and educational projects on alpines, including specific lectures.

The Small Project Conservation Grant provides funding of up to £5,000 to small projects that directly relate to the conservation of alpines, either in the wild or in cultivation. This includes scientific research and work on conservation laws and policies. It may not be used as partial funding for a larger project, unless it can be demonstrated that the grant would be used for a distinct element of a larger project. For example:

• Proposal A requests £5,000 toward the renovation of an alpine house for the cultivation of endangered alpines. The total cost of the renovation is £50,000 – this proposal would not be eligible, as the £5,000 would not be going to a distinct project.
• Proposal B requests £5,000 to purchase plants to go in a renovated alpine house for the cultivation of endangered alpines. The total cost of the project is £50,000 but the renovations have already been completed– this proposal would be eligible, as purchasing the plants is distinct from renovating the alpine house.

The Local Activity Support Grant covers activities and projects led by AGS local groups or individuals that advance at least one of the Society’s charitable objectives and have a public-facing element.

Further guidance on the scope of each fund can be found in their respective application forms.

Applicant Eligibility

All persons who demonstrate a serious interest in alpines through membership of the AGS or similar organisation, or through their profession, occupation or educational course, are eligible to apply. Where a project includes multiple applicants, only the lead applicant needs to meet these criteria.

While it is not necessary for applicants to be members of the AGS, the Society reserves the right to make purchasing membership for a period of one-year a condition of any award.

Where an AGS local group or individual submits a successful application for a Local Activity Support Grant, that group or individual will not be eligible to apply to the same scheme the following year.

Application Deadline

Applications should be submitted by 5pm (GMT) at the end of February each year to the Society’s Director: tony@alpinegardensociety.net

Application Process

Application Schedule

All AGS grants currently adhere to the following schedule:

• 1 November applications open

• End of February the following calendar year – applications close

• March – Relevant committees review applications

• April – AGS Board of Trustees confirms awards and applicants are informed

The Society reserves the right to adjust this schedule. Applicants will be notified of any changes.

Review Committees

The AGS Grants Subcommittee, comprising members of the AGS Board of Trustees, is the review committee for the Travel Award, Conservation Grant and Local Activity Support Grant. The committee of the AGS East Surry Group is the review committee for the Hendry Fund.

Each review committee may consult external parties to assist in reviewing an application.

Initial Review Process

Applications received under the grant schemes will initially be reviewed by representatives of ALL the review committees, who will collectively determine which scheme is most appropriate for each application. This is to avoid delays in award decisions (eg, if the AGS Grants Subcommittee believes that a project should instead be considered by the Hendry Fund, this will be dealt with at the start of the process rather than at the end). If a proposal is deemed to fall outside the scope of all the grants, the applicant will be informed that they have been unsuccessful at this stage.

As a result of this process, applicants may receive funding from a different grant than that to which they applied.

NOTE – The General Conditions of Acceptance listed below apply equally to the Travel Awards, Hendry Fund, Conservation Grant and Local Activity Support Grant. Applicants will be notified if the grant from which they are awarded funding has different specific conditions from that to which they originally applied.

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTANCE

In addition to any conditions set out or otherwise identified in the individual application forms and any award decision communicated by the Society, all applicants to the AGS Travel Awards, Hendry Fund, Small Conservation Projects Grant and Local Activity Support Grant agree the following:

1. By granting an award, the Society accepts no responsibility for the welfare of any individual associated with the relevant project/tour, either due to them being a named applicant or participant, or otherwise being involved in the project/tour.

2. It is the responsibility of the applicant to identify and comply with any and all legal requirements or restrictions that arise from their intended project/tour. By granting an award, the Society does not condone the collection and/or export of any plant material, in any form and for whatever purpose, or any other activity undertaken as part of or associated with the project/tour, except that which is carried out in strict accordance with applicable national (including non-UK) and international law and with the permission of the relevant authorities.

3. Applicants are required to keep an account of how AGS funding has been spent. Any unspent funds at the end of the project/tour must be returned to the Society at the earliest opportunity.

4. If the project/tour does not go ahead, for whatever reason, any funding awarded by the AGS that has been received by applicants up to that point must be returned at the earliest opportunity.

5. Applicants are required to regularly engage with the Society’s social media regarding their project. What constitutes ‘regular engagement’ will vary according to the nature of the project/tour and will be agreed between the applicant and the Society’s Digital Editor following notification of a successful application.

6. Applicants may be requested to produce a talk on their project/tour for presentation either at a national AGS event (ie one organised by the Society itself) or an online Zoom event organised by the Society. If the talk is presented at an in-person national AGS event, the applicant agrees that it will be presented free of charge on the first occasion (the applicant may still claim expenses associated with attending the event). If the talk is presented via Zoom, the applicant agrees that it may be published in full on the Society’s Youtube page.

7. Applicants are encouraged to produce an article on their project/tour for publication in the Society’s journal, The Alpine Gardener. The Society’s Editor will be available to provide support with this.

8. Applicants agree to give the Society permission to reproduce any material, including photos and text, that they provide under paras 5, 6 and 7 in its digital and print media and for publicity purposes, including in external publications. The Society agrees to attribute any such material to the applicant.

9. Applicants agree that any material, including photos and text, that they provide under paras 5, 6 and 7 will be their own intellectual property, or otherwise not in breach of a third party’s copyright or other intellectual property rights. If a third party’s material is provided to the Society by an applicant without that third party’s permission, the applicant agrees to indemnify the Society against any claim resulting from the Society’s use of that material.

10. In accordance with the Privacy Policy published on the Society’s website, the AGS will only process applicants’ personal data provided on a funding application form for the purposes of administering the grant schemes.

11. The Society reserves the right to apply additional conditions as it considers appropriate when making a funding award.

Merlin Trust

External to the Alpine Garden Society, travel grants are available for young horticulturists from the Merlin Trust. The Trust was founded by the late Valerie Finnis VMH in 1990.

Awards have been offered in conjunction with the AGS in the past. To be eligible, applicants must:

• Be enthusiastic about plants with a particular interest in alpines
• Be between the age of 18- 35 years or in your first 5 years of a career in horticulture
• Have British or Irish citizenship (students of other nationalities are eligible if studying at a UK horticultural training institution).

How to apply

For more information, please visit the Merlin Trust website.

Grants from other organisations

Details of other grant-awarding organisations can be found on the Chartered Institute of Horticulture website.