National Lottery Heritage Grants

Dark thoughts

Applicant: Therapeutic productions CIC

Project description: To influence the culture of urban society and foster both positive engagement and knowledge of their communities, to produce and launch a documentary series named ‘Dark thoughts,’ highlighting the work and impact of great African intellectuals in the western world.

Decision: Reject

Wilton Sunrise Project – Pre-development Stage

Applicant: Wilton Community Land Trust Limited

Project description: A pre-development stage to include a large-scale public meeting, volunteer governance and project training and the formation of a new charitable organisation. To later oversee the renovations and adaption of St Peter's, Fugglestone, a joint place of worship and community amenity for the benefit of residents and visitors.

Decision: Award grant of £20,015 (91%)

IMAGINE

Applicant: Kernow Education Arts Partnership

Project description: To celebrate and increase awareness of the lives and heritage of the global majority community in Cornwall and highlight it alongside stories of other Cornish communities.

Decision: Award grant of £29,338 (87%)

Jon Quixote – using theatre and film to explore, share and preserve heritage in Enfield

Applicant: Face Front Inclusive Theatre Limited

Project description: To create a theatre production and two films for a heritage project called 'Jon Quixote', to share and preserve unheard stories of those living with disability in Enfield and the InterACTion theatre group's impact. To engage local people with Enfield's heritage and sustain the engagement into the future, focusing on under-served groups.

Decision: Reject

The Heart of Battersea: 100 years of stories from Katherine Low Settlement

Applicant: Katherine Low Settlement Limited

Project description: To explore the heritage of Katherine Low Settlement, a charity that has been working for a century at the heart of the community in Battersea to reduce poverty and isolation. To capture a century of stories on film, create a visual and oral history archive, host a launch screening at a local landmark venue and run a series of events throughout the borough to promote the work.

Decision: Award grant of £31,603 (97%)

Professional Conservation of 17th Century Painting of the Crucifixion

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council for the Ecclesiastical Church Council of St Edward's Stow-on the-Wold

Project description: To commission professional conservation of the painting (surface cleaning, retouching of the canvas and major structural repair) to prevent further deterioration for the benefit of future generations of the community and visitors.

Decision: Award grant of £32,313 (66%)

Plymouth Community History Festival 2024 and Beyond

Applicant: WonderZoo CIC

Project description: To create a seven-day history festival (28 September – 4 October 2024) and build on the success of the previous festival in 2023. To then engage with the community over the next 12 months to involve more people in the creation of the following years' festivals, to ensure its longevity.

Decision: Reject

Celebrating Devon's World-Class Heritage

Applicant: Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and the Arts

Project description: To raise awareness of the natural and historic heritage of the six outstanding assets in Devon designated by UNESCO as being of global significance. To host a programme of public ‘taster days’ during 2025 and help people discover these heritage assets. Hold three ‘flagship events’ to celebrate Devon’s UNESCO assets, highlight Exeter Cathedral’s heritage, and address the theme of climate change and Devon’s heritage.

Decision: Award grant of £39,936 (100%)

Restoration of bells at St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst

Applicant: Friends of High Weald Churches

Project description: The conservation and restoration of the historic bells at Penshurst Church, to include fitting new headstocks and tuning the bells to the designated, and listed fifth bell which dates from 1370. To leave a lasting and sustainable legacy for the future, to benefit both the community and the environment.

Decision: Award grant of £45,400 (49%)

Our People – celebrating the stories and heritage of neurodiverse and learning-disabled people from Bromley and South London

Applicant: Magpie Dance

Project description: To uncover and celebrate the voices of neurodiverse and learning-disabled people from Bromley and South London. To provide a platform to explore their heritage growing up and living in the area and reveal the societal changes they have experienced over the past 40 years.

Decision: Reject

St Mary Magdalene 2023 & Beyond Project

Applicant: Great Hampden Parochial Church Council

Project description: To preserve, renovate and refurnish the St Mary Magdalene church. To create a more useable, appealing and inclusive space to attract people not only for Sunday services but for concerts, educational classes, prayer, study and worship.

Decision: Award grant of £59,809 (52%)

Kenyan lifestyle contrast and cultural heritage

Applicant: Emmanuel Celebration Centre

Project description: To raise awareness and preserve memories of the Kenyan lifestyle and cultural heritage among young people in the Slough community as they transition from teenagehood to adulthood. To sustain cultural heritage by archiving materials for the benefit of current and future generations.

Decision: Reject

Greekscapes: Recording the Hellenic Heritage of London

Applicant: King's College London

Project description: To record the tangible and intangible heritage of the ethnic Greek communities in London. To employ urban landscape archaeology, building recording methods, oral history recordings, archive research, and material culture studies to identify how Greeks have shaped modern London and been influenced by the capital's urbanscapes.

Decision: Award grant of £78,300 (86%)

John Harvey House – Phase 1

Applicant: Harvey's Foundry Trust

Project description: The Trust will look at how it connects with audiences and how to improve inclusion, access and participation while the Hayle Heritage Centre is closed for renovation. To run targeted community workshops to provide an opportunity for consultation to feed into an audience development strategy. To consider organisation sustainability and how they can improve reach and visibility.

Decision: Award grant of £81,590 (94%)

The Great North Somerset Bat Project

Applicant: North Somerset Council

Project description: To equip participants with knowledge about local bat species, data collection skills and an understanding of how development design can minimise the impact on wildlife. To collaborate with schools, community groups and landowners to raise awareness of North Somerset’s natural heritage and the significance of bats.

Decision: Award grant of £96,665 (90%)

Women Speak Volumes Between Generations

Applicant: Speaking Volumes Live Literature Productions

Project description: To highlight the often hidden or neglected stories of older Black women in the arts and what they have contributed to British society over many decades. To connect Black women’s lives between generations, so younger women may learn to be inspired by those who came before them.

Decision: Award grant of £103,136 (91%)

Plantlife Ryewater Farm Nature Reserve extension – Land purchase and establishment for conservation

Applicant: Plantlife International – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity

Project description: To expand one of the nature reserve’s core grassland areas by acquiring an adjacent area of 1.8ha. To improve and enhance the land to the same standard as that of the land already in the charity’s management, and extend the area for access and engagement activities in the future.

Decision: Award grant of £106,485 (84%)

Brighthelm Garden Railings and Gates

Applicant: Brighthelm Church and Community Centre Trust Limited

Project description: To install iron gates to the existing garden railings, increase safety, preserve nature and increase green spaces for the local community.

Decision: Reject

The University of Chichester Chapel of the Ascension: Creating a Warm Welcome for Our Local Community

Applicant: University Of Chichester

Project description: To restore The Chapel of the Ascension as a public heritage space with an event programme that combines voluntary-sector partners and volunteers. To make the chapel accessible and welcoming for a diverse community and provide entertainment for all.

Decision: Reject

Growing Together: Embedding Inclusion and Collaboration in our Museums

Applicant: Bristol City Council

Project description: To empower museums across the South West to make change for genuine inclusivity; to reach across audiences, communities and their workforces. To grow in understanding, confidence and capability, make lasting change to the way museums work, the goals they set, the actions they take, the conversations they have and the people they attract to visit, work and engage with them.

Decision: Award grant of £181,850 (80%)

Hedgerows: A New Perspective on Heritage Assets

Applicant: The Avon and Bristol Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England

Project description: To introduce a new, under-represented group of young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds to reinvigorate the hedgerow network. Participants would help increase biodiversity, learn practical skills of hedge-laying, experience the cultural heritage these ancient landscapes embody and, through training, empower themselves in nature-based careers.

Decision: Reject

Roots & Wings: Celebrating 50 Years of Vauxhall City Farm

Applicant: Vauxhall City Farm

Project description: To recruit new volunteers from the local community and engage with disadvantaged and culturally diverse young people (16–25 years). To run weekly educational programmes, introduce new skills, enhance employability and boost confidence. To support a team of ‘green advocates’ to increase biodiversity and sustainable food growing practices. The culmination of the project will be the Golden Anniversary event in 2027.

Decision: Reject

From Shadows to Spotlight: London's Hidden Queer Histories

Applicant: Elevate Community Productions CIC

Project description: To preserve and celebrate the cultural heritage of queer, trans, or intersex people of colour (QTIPOC) and migrants in West London from the 1960s to the present, through intergenerational storytelling, cultural heritage workshops and media production activities. To create a supportive environment and safe spaces for self-expression that culminates in a public exhibition at Chiswick House & Gardens. 

Decision: Award grant of £192,583 (95%)

Strawberry Hill House Towards A New Future

Applicant: Strawberry Hill Trust

Project description: To seek external financial support to address Strawberry Hill Trust’s (SHT) current position at risk of closure. A new Executive Director will provide a stronger overall footing, with a robust business plan and creative engagement with visitors.

Decision: Award grant of £205,600 (98%)

Rescuing Byron

Applicant: The Byron Society

Project description: To highlight the story and works of Lord Byron and move the at-risk Byron Memorial from its position on a Park Lane traffic island to a prominent location in Hyde Park, and complement with a variety of digital and on-the-ground engagement activities.

Decision: Award grant of £230,280 (62%)

Open Art: Dulwich Picture Gallery's vision to restore our grounds and connect more people with our heritage

Applicant: Dulwich Picture Gallery

Project description: To transform the grounds and gardens and open one third more of the site. To reinstate the original entrance, improve accessibility and run a new outdoor public programme for audiences to connect with nature and the Gallery’s rich heritage.

Decision: Award grant of £245,991 (11%)

Devonport 200 – marking the 200th anniversary of the founding of Devonport, to explore the multiple and diverse histories, recognise achievements, celebrate local communities, and looking forward to future opportunities and challenges.

Applicant: Real Ideas Organisation CIC

Project description: To celebrate local communities, address negative perceptions, explore complex heritage, create civic pride and bring much-needed visitors to Devonport. 

Decision: Award grant of £246,600 (73%)

Epping Forest Heritage for All

Applicant: Epping Forest Heritage Trust

Project description: To engage with a diverse range of people and community groups, to experience, celebrate and protect the Forest as a heritage space. To work in partnership with local, community organisations, create guided walks, talks, conservation activities and new digital materials to inspire new people about the heritage of the Forest.

Decision: Reject

"Gwytha ha Crefhe" (Preserve and Strengthen)

Applicant: The Cornwall Heritage Trust Limited

Project description: To protect and manage six of Cornwall’s most important historic places through the transfer of ownership to the charity. To balance the historic and environmental needs, and maintain their stories shared with the local communities and visitors from further afield.

Decision: Award grant of £249,999 (71%)

Uncovering Wandsworth Heritage – London Borough of Culture development year

Applicant: Wandsworth Borough Council

Project description: To develop a people-led approach to improve health, happiness and equality of opportunity. To uncover and recognise the shared past, to enable the Borough to galvanise partners and engage residents to lead the way to London becoming a Creative Health Capital City.

Decision: Award grant of £250,000 (67%)

Turntable Traditions: Passing the Torch

Applicant: Skills development training

Project description: To preserve and promote the cultural heritage of vinyl DJing, an art form rooted in UK music history and cultural expression. To engage diverse communities, foster inclusion and provide access to this intangible heritage. Through training and skills development, participants are to learn vinyl DJing techniques and music production, and gain a deeper appreciation for the traditions and stories behind this art.

Decision: Reject

Different Breed – A history of veterinary medicine

Applicant: Different Breed Partnership

Project description: To preserve and disseminate the history of veterinary practices in London during the 1970s. To collate and record oral histories, photos, video footage, written literature, and stories related to this period in veterinary care. To highlight developments in veterinary care for domestic and wild animals, set against the backdrop of popular culture and the evolving conceptions of animal care and conservation.

Decision: Reject

To Repair and Insulate the Church Windows, 18 of them

Applicant: Ryde Methodist Church

Project description: To replace the 18 windows of a circa 1880 building. To achieve an environmentally friendly place of worship and for all other activities held in the building throughout the year.

Decision: Reject

Promoting Green Jobs for Nature for All Through Escape Room Experiences

Applicant: Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management

Project description: To create an online escape room experience for young people aged 13–16, to highlight the breadth of nature-focused careers and how they can contribute to nature's recovery.

Decision: Reject

The Gospel Archives Initiative

Applicant: CrazySexyCoool Entertainment CIC

Project description: To highlight the legacy of Gospel music and its journey from the African diaspora through the transatlantic slave trade to the global stage. To preserve and celebrate the rich heritage of Gospel music, through digital archives, heritage tours and outreach initiatives to connect with communities across the UK and beyond.

Decision: Reject

St Just Ordinalia

Applicant: St Just and District Trust CIO

Project description: To reinstate the 14th century Cornish Ordinalia, Britain’s oldest trilogy of plays, as part of the St Just community calendar. To be performed in the medieval amphitheatre, the Plen an Gwari, and to also highlight the endangered Cornish language.

Decision: Reject

Portsmouth Black History: Uncovering and Saving our Hidden History

Applicant: Portsmouth Black History Group

Project description: To acknowledge the important roles of Black African and Caribbean people, who helped to change the social, economic and cultural life of Portsmouth through many generations over the centuries. To share the positive changes brought to Portsmouth and surrounding areas, and to involve community members and school children to record and archive histories.

Decision: Reject

Highgate Library Then, Now And To Be

Applicant: Camden Council

Project description: To conduct additional restoration works whilst the library is closed for decarbonisation and preserve the building for future generations. To collaborate with the local community to celebrate the reopening of the library in late 2024.

Decision: Reject

Natural Beauty and The Beast 

Applicant: Cornwall National Landscape (AONB)

Project description: To create a Moortown Partnership and Community Group to understand and protect heritage and nature and increase access to Bodmin Moor. To enable nature-recovery and heritage action, support farmers to better understand and manage heritage features, increase biodiversity, and share cultural heritage with urban communities.

Decision: Reject