Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. The National Lottery Heritage Fund provides amounts from £3,000 up to millions of pounds to suppport a broad range of projects that connect people and communities to the UK's heritage.
Your heritage project could include:
- Nature – works to improve habitats or conserve species, as well as helping people to connect to nature in their daily lives.
- Designed landscapes – improving and conserving historic landscapes such as public parks, historic gardens and botanical gardens.
- Large-scale rural projects that help improve landscapes for people and nature by, for example, restoring habitats and celebrating the cultural traditions of the land.
- Oral history recordings of people’s stories, memories and songs, as a way of communicating and revealing the past.
- Cultural traditions exploring the history of different cultures through storytelling, or things that you do as part of your community. This could be anything from dance and theatre to food or clothing. It could also include the heritage of languages and dialects.
- Community archaeology involves the active participation of volunteers in archaeological activities, everything from investigating, photographing, surveying, excavation and finds processing. Sometimes called public archaeology
- Historic buildings, monuments and the historic environment – from houses and mills to caves and gardens. Areas that are connected to history and heritage.
- Museums, libraries and archives – making the collections that museums, libraries and archives hold more accessible through new displays, improving public buildings and galleries, or engaging people with interpreting new and existing collections.
- Acquiring new objects – help towards the cost of acquiring one-off objects or collections as part of a collections development policy.
- Commemorations and celebrations – telling the stories and histories of people, communities, places or events related to specific times and dates.
- Industrial, maritime and transport – places and objects linked to our industrial, maritime and transport history.
From the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the cost of living crisis, both heritage and the UK are facing big challenges. The Heritage Fund wants to fund projects that strengthen the sector’s recovery and support thriving places and communities across the UK.
They are currently assessing applications against six priority outcomes:
- a wider range of people will be involved in heritage (mandatory)
- the funded organisation will be more resilient
- people will have greater wellbeing
- people will have developed skills
- the local area will be a better place to live, work or visit
- the local economy will be boosted
Applicants are encouraged to focus on achieving one or more priority outcomes.
Three levels of funding are available. Applications for:
- £3,000 to £10,000 will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations and private owners of heritage.
- £10,000 to £100,000 will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations, private owners of heritage and partnerships.
- £100,000 to £10 million will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations and partnerships led by not-for-profit organisations.
There are no deadlines for grants under £250,000. Once the application and all supporting documentation are received, applications will be assessed, and a decision given in eight weeks. The next deadlines for grants over £250,000 are noon on:
- 17 August 2023 for a decision by the end of December 2023.
- 16 November 2023 for a decision by the end of June 2024.
For more information, including eligible expenditure, restrictions, examples of previous funded projects, good practice guidance and details on how to apply, visit the The National Lottery Heritage Fund website.