TWO ACT groups will receive grants worth $5200 to help preserve Australia’s heritage under the latest Community Heritage Grants, announced at the National Library.

The AIDS Action Council of the ACT received $1200 for archival storage for the collection and the National Trust of Australia (ACT) received $4000 to conduct an assessment of the ACT Classification Collection.

The Community Heritage Grants program provides grants of up to $15,000 to community organisations such as libraries, archives, museums, genealogical and historical societies, multicultural and indigenous groups. It is funded by the Federal Government through the National Library; the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Office for the Arts; the National Archives; the National Film and Sound Archive and the National Museum.

Recipients will also attend a three-day intensive preservation and collection management workshop held at the National Library, the National Archives, the National Museum and the National Film and Sound Archive.

National Library director-general Anne-Marie Schwirtlich said: “These grants are a reminder that if we don’t preserve our history now, it could be lost forever.”