Yesterday (27 March), our Chief Executive, Eilish McGuinness, went to Crystal Palace Park to celebrate its award of £304,000 development funding towards a proposed £5m regeneration project.

Sitting at the meeting point of five boroughs, Crystal Palace Park serves a wide range of local communities, including some of the most deprived in England and provides important green space for the local area.

Our funding would help restore the park’s Tidal Lakes, home of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, and create a new dinosaur-themed playground and information centre. The park is currently on the Heritage At Risk Register, in part due to the condition of the dinosaurs, which have stood there for more than 170 years.

Eilish McGuiness said: “Crystal Palace Park embodies the joy of heritage: from its nature walks and unique dinosaurs, to the kaleidoscope of sporting and cultural activities held in its magnificent grounds. It’s as important to local communities as its history is significant internationally.

“In 1852, Crystal Palace Park was designed to impress, educate, entertain and inspire. Our funding will help ensure that it continues to do just that for generations to come.”

Projects across the UK

We’re delighted that thanks to National Lottery players, we can save much loved heritage all over the UK and create benefits for people, places and our natural environment.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Among the many other projects that have received development and delivery funding and grant increases in this round of awards, are:

Gardeners’ House in Penzance, which has received over £2m to create a new green community hub in West Cornwall, repurposing a historic stable block to encourage environmental education and wellbeing.

The John O’Groats Mill – the historic heart of the community – was awarded almost £1.6m to restore the mill as an economic and social driver of the community.

The Hilden Mill School, in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, has received £834,000 to transform its disused building into a tearoom and childcare facilities for local families. The site will also be used to promote the social and economic role of mills.

The Trinity Centre in Cardiff received £892,000 for wide ranging improvements to the former Methodist church. The project will support the work of 24 different groups based there.

Elsewhere, we’ve awarded grants to:

• London & South: Tottenham High Road regeneration (£2,677,310)
• Midlands & East: Forgotten histories of Serendipity Artist Movement Ltd (£729,438)
• North of England: National Science and Media Museum (£3,086,790) and The Piece Hall (£650,600)
• Scotland: Carluke community growing and learning garden (£1,019,127)
• Wales: Hafod Morfa Copperworks Powerhouse (£1,428,119), Monmouthshire Shire Hall Museum (£349,928) and Tylorstown Welfare Hall and Institute (£286,388)
• Northern Ireland: RSPB Rathlin (£720,000) and St Joseph's in Glenullin (£584,000)

Our commitment to heritage

Eilish said: “We’re delighted that thanks to National Lottery players, we can save much loved heritage all over the UK and create benefits for people, places and our natural environment.”

Find out more about the heritage we’ve supported in your area. And if you’ve got an idea for a project, check what we can fund.

We are committed to ensuring heritage is valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.