National Lottery Grants for Heritage

LOOK DRAW BUILD @ Reading Station 2024

Applicant: Reading Civic Society

Project description: Work with 500 primary school children to develop an understanding of railway heritage and get their active participation in design and engineering. It will involve updating a specially commissioned educational video, school trips to railway stations, workshops and an inter-school competition with the top three models displayed at Reading’s Waterfest in June.

Decision: Award grant of £3,600

Keeping the bells of St. George's Ringing out

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Hinton St. George with Dinnington

Project description: This project, based in the community of Hinton St. George, will replace the headstocks of the six bells of St. George’s Church, two of which are listed, to preserve the heritage and make it easier for new people to come forward to be trained in bellringing.

Decision: Award grant of £9,491

Even Queen Victoria was amused: a celebration of Professors and Pierrots on the South Coast

Applicant: The Fedora Group

Project description: This Brighton-based project focuses on the historic importance of Punch and Judy shows. It aims to engage a range of audiences with traditional seafront entertainment, through new and existing partnerships. Outputs include workshops, volunteer training, and creation of school/digital materials.

Decision: Award grant of £9,900

Maud's Way

Applicant: Yesterday's Story CIC

Project description: A 12-month project to celebrate and raise awareness of the heritage of the 550-year-old road, Maud’s causeway, funded through a gift from an unknown medieval woman, Maud Heath.

Decision: Award grant of £28,655

A Future for Paddington Old Cemetery Chapels

Applicant: Brent London Borough Council

Project description: This 10-month project will involve Brent Council, The Friends of Paddington Cemetery and London Historic Buildings Trust working collaboratively with the local community to plan and explore a viable future for important heritage assets.

Decision: Award grant of £29,800

Mini Moments – A Small Car with a Big Story

Applicant: The Community Brain CIC

Project description: The project aims to highlight the not so well-known roots of an iconic British car, the Mini Cooper, emphasising the local area where John Cooper lived and worked. The project aims to go on for 10 months with several public-facing events. The outcomes will include: A launch event at Waterloo station, a large public event hosted in Surbiton at John Cooper's former garage, a garden display to feature as part of Hampton Court Garden Festival 2024, a book and several short films to coincide with the event.

Decision: Award grant of £38,400

Story Maps

Applicant: Figment Arts CIC

Project description: To engage people with Sussex’s folklore heritage. The applicant will be supported by the Sussex Centre for Folklore and Fairytales (University of Chichester), Sussex Community Development Association, and the museums of Worthing, Newhaven and Hastings. Activity will take place across these locations.

Decision: Award grant of £55,930

Newham Stories

Applicant: Children's Discovery Centre East London

Project description: This project from first-time applicant, Children's Discovery Centre East London (Discover) will collect, record and disseminate the Intangible Cultural Heritage-based stories of Newham residents, while improving the resilience of the organisation and building skills for participants. The project aims to do the latter by diversifying Discover’s recruitment and programme content, and supporting participants to become employed at the centre.

Decision: Award grant of £60,961

William Morris and Art from the Islamic World

Applicant: London Borough of Waltham Forest on Behalf of William Morris Gallery

Project description: To explore and display William Morris’ collection of art from the Islamic world and the influence it had on British design history, primarily through a 20-week exhibition and accompanying activity programme.

Decision: Award grant of £150,000

THE MOUTH OF THE GODS – musical and cultural heritage of London's Latin American communities

Applicant: BORDER CROSSINGS COMPANY LIMITED

Project description: This 14-month project will explore the indigenous heritage of London's Latin American (Latinx) communities, focusing on indigenous music and performance, revitalising and performing the Indigenous opera “St. Francisco Xavier” and other Latinx baroque music with indigenous musicians.

Decision: Award grant of £151,885

Threads of the Past – Restoring William Morris's Tapestry Room

Applicant: Society of Antiquaries of London

Project description: A two-year conservation project at Kelmscott Manor, outside of Swindon. The project plans to restore the 17th-century Tapestry Room and deliver a programme of accompanying activities targeted at schoolchildren, families and disabled community groups. The activities, focusing on creative and skills-based textiles sessions and storytelling workshops, will be delivered by a group of 20 volunteers under the guidance of the Learning & Outreach Manager.

Decision: Award grant of £196,557

Investing in all our futures – BRLSI's Imaginations

Applicant: Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution Trustees Ltd acting on behalf Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution (a registered charity)

Project description: This project will take place in Bath over two years and transform the audiences and approach to income generation. It will produce multiple activities including talks, an exhibition and an income generation review. This project aims to attract a more diverse audience to the heritage.

Decision: Award grant of £225,000

The Countess who Came to Tea

Applicant: Meath Epilepsy Charity

Project description: The charity operates on the site of a manor house owned at one time by the Countess of Meath. This project will focus on the countess and bring her story to life. It will do this through researching and cataloguing the archives stored on site and co-creating an exhibition of work with the people the organisation supports and hosting the local community at an afternoon tea to view the exhibition. 

Decision: Award grant of £8,350

Bringing our visitors into Range at Otford Palace

Applicant: Archbishop's Palace Conservation Trust

Project description: This project will focus on interpreting the archaeological remains of the Archbishop’s Palace in Otford, Kent using a solar-powered digital info point system. It will also provide local community events, volunteer training and a publicity campaign. 

Decision: Award grant of £9,960

Wincanton Heritage Activities and Day

Applicant: Wincanton and District Museum and History Society

Project description: The museum’s main aim of this project is to establish an annual history day to showcase local heritage as a town on the stagecoach route Exeter to London. This event will include the launch of an app, oral history capture and interactive artistic and storytelling activities. 

Decision: Award grant of £9,990

Idea to institution, the history of artsdepot, its culture and context.

Applicant: The Arts Depot Trust Limited

Project description: The project will mark the organisation’s 20th anniversary and involve research and an exhibition to take place in the LB Barnet. This will include the appointment of researcher, interviews, digitisation and a launch party.

Decision: Reject

The New Exonians

Applicant: Inclusive Exeter CIC

Project description: This project will research, share and celebrate the heritage of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in Exeter. It will do so through the training of volunteers to conduct interviews and release these online. It will also hold three large scale events.

Decision: Award grant of £43,000

BOTANICAL BLACK & ASIAN WOMEN OF HOUNSLOW – 18TH CENTURY WOMEN FROM THE CARIBBEAN, AFRICA, ASIA

Applicant: Hounslow Action for Youth Association

Project description: To engage under-served young people who have not previously engaged with heritage. The project will explore the 18th-century botanical and horticultural heritage of the London Borough of Hounslow, with a focus on African, Caribbean and Asian heritage and the stories of Marina Dellap and Catharine MacCartney. 

Decision: Award grant of £74,970

Ye Olde Mint House – A New Heritage

Applicant: Friends of the Mint House

Project description: This is a resilience project for the Mint House is a Grade II* listed property in East Sussex, and an integral part of Pevensey’s historic landscape, alongside a Roman fortress with a medieval castle inside and a miniature Tudor town hall. 

Decision: Award grant of £86,350

Democratising Archives

Applicant: Learning Academies Trust

Project description: To facilitate the collection of a new community archive based around themes of traditional community events, travelling fairs and railways in three Plymouth communities. Activities will include workshops, training sessions and archiving. 

Decision: Award grant of £87,589

Treadgolds Renaissance

Applicant: John Pounds Community Trust Limited

Project description: This project will consult with the local community and carry out survey work and other planning to help determine a future for the Grade II listed heritage asset. 

Decision: Award grant of £94,000

The City's Mill: Saving 1000 years of Milling History

Applicant: The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

Project description: To restore the millwheel of Winchester watermill, providing new interpretation and engagement opportunities. This will include BSL videos, nature and wildlife talks, and seasonal events.

Decision: Award grant of £95,000

1968 – Rivers of Blood, Sweat, Hope & Resilience

Applicant: PROTEGE DNA

Project description: To validate and contextualise the achievements of first-generation Indian women authentically, in their voices, locating their impact on the UK within the broader historical situation of women, equality and race in 1968 and the surrounding years. 

Decision: Reject

Growing Together: Inclusion and Conservation in the Surrey Hills

Applicant: Surrey Hills Society

Project description: This project will promote inclusivity and engagement within the Surrey Hills National Landscape. There will be an activity programme that includes welcome days, conservation, and environmental walks.  

Decision: Award grant of £144,093

Shaping a Resilient Future for Heritage Crafts

Applicant: The Heritage Crafts Association

Project description: A resilience project from The Heritage Crafts Association that support the heritage crafts sector and raise public appreciation of traditional and heritage crafts. The project will improve their governance and core business, enabling sustainable growth and financial resilience. 

Decision: Award grant of £158,306

The Ages of Motoring

Applicant: National Motor Museum Trust

Project description: This project will redisplay the entrance gallery to the museum and create a new permanent exhibition titled “The Ages of Motoring”. The project also includes a community engagement outreach programme including visiting community centres and running workshops. 

Decision: Award grant of £226,812

Discovering Hampshire's Hidden D-Day Heritage: a community project to map and record the camps and the men who stayed in them in the run up to D-Day, connecting communities and families to their past, developing digital skills and supporting well-being.

Applicant: The Portsmouth D-Day Museum Trust

Project description: This project will create a comprehensive and accessible online database that will enable the public to find the locations of, and detailed information on, all the D-Day camps with visitor details. 

Decision: Award grant of £239,500

Save MV Balmoral for Bristol and Beyond

Applicant: MV Balmoral Fund Ltd

Project description: This project will carry out essential inspection and repair work on the MV Balmoral. It will also develop a volunteer network and engage with schools. Activities related to the ship include open days, on-the-water activities and events. 

Decision: Award grant of £248,318

New Routes to Nature

Applicant: New Forest National Park Authority

Project description: A three-year partnership project to develop volunteer and apprentice programmes, carry out natural heritage conservation and access management tasks to improve rights of ways, with the aim of buffering and extending nature networks and developing access to the forest.

Decision: Award grant of £248,640

Becoming Brent

Applicant: London Borough of Brent

Project description: The Museum and Archives service from the London borough of Brent will undertake a community heritage project focused on the creation of a new British Empire Exhibition. The project aims to collect intangible cultural heritage, provide a place for untold stories, and build on existing collections that can be brought into view in a contemporary and critical context.

Decision: Award grant of £248,763

To support the urgent and vital repair of Union Chapel's historically important organ and celebrate its rich heritage and major milestone of 150 years

Applicant: Union Chapel Project

Project description: This project will carry out necessary repairs to Union Chapel’s Willis organ, securing its future, and aims to engage a wider range of people in the heritage of Union Chapel and its Willis organ. It will do this through delivering an organ education and performance programme.

Decision: Reject

Greenwich Park Bandstand Restoration

Applicant: The Royal Parks Limited

Project description: This project will conserve the Greenwich Park bandstand by undertaking repair and restoration work. It will be accessible for the community and raise its profile within the park.

Decision: Award grant of £250,000

Cultural Heritage Producers

Applicant: Rosetta Art Centre CIO

Project description: This three-year project led by Rosetta Arts but representing a collaboration between multiple organisations will carry out a dedicated programme of training for 48 people from Newham to develop skills for gaining work in the cultural sector.

Decision: Award grant of £250,000

Black-Facts Almanac App

Applicant: Educere CIC

Project description: This project aims to increase understanding and inclusion of African and Caribbean heritage for UK school students using an application, particularly those of African and Caribbean descent, in Lewisham primary and secondary schools.

Decision: Reject

Health, Power, Protest: Making Space for Unheard Stories

Applicant: Vagina Museum

Project description: This project is a 14-month project that will develop three exhibitions on menopause, medicalisation of childbirth and 20th-century body activism. There will also be accompanying events to the exhibitions. 

Decision: Reject

Red Light Busking presents Kanda Vol.1 - Shut My Bedroom

Applicant: 4TY Ltd

Project description: This is a nine-month project based out of Waltham Forest, that will focus on the cultural heritage of the area's Caribbean community. In particular, the project will reconstruct a Caribbean bedroom from Waltham Forest during the early 2000s, acting as the stage for a series of community engagement shows and workshops.

Decision: Reject

Worthing Heritage Alliance website

Applicant: Worthing Heritage Alliance (WHA)

Project description: To develop a new website for the WHA with new technology. This will allow members to keep updated and connect to the WHA and be a way for third parties to book events and exchange information. 

Decision: Reject

Wisdomless

Applicant: Maria Shehata

Project description: Wisdomless is a solo theatre production that will celebrate and preserve the heritage of the Coptic Orthodox Community.

Decision: Reject

Surrey Heath Heritage Hotspots

Applicant: Surrey Heath Borough Council on Behalf of Surrey Heath Museum.

Project description: This project aims to work with 10 local areas to create an interactive map relating to the museum’s collection in Surrey Heath. It will also create content for their webpage and hold a community event and display.

Decision: Reject

Different Breed – The History of Veterinary Medicine

Applicant: Different Breed Partnership

Project description: The project seeks to collect and document materials relating to veterinary practices in London during the 1970s, with a particular focus on the work of Dr Bruce Fogle MBE (founder of the London Veterinary Clinic and the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People). On top of collating physical materials, the project will also record oral histories. These materials will then be curated into a physical exhibition along with a digital archive which can be accessed by the public.

Decision: Reject

Restoration of the Faversham Creek Trust

Applicant: Faversham Creek Trust

Project description: This project focuses on increasing the resilience of Faversham Creek Trust by carrying out essential health and safety and fireproofing works to the Trust’s Victorian-period building; recruiting additional resource to strengthen capacity, and restarting the Trust’s educational and events programmes, which paused during Covid-19.

Decision: Reject

HeritageRevive: An Immersive Journey to the Root

Applicant: Mukto Arts CIC

Project description: This project will use Virtual Reality (VR) to recreate Bangladeshi heritage sites to connect British-Bangladeshi people with their heritage. There will be celebration events, demonstrations and performances with the created VR. 

Decision: Reject

The History of RAF Perranporth and its people

Applicant: Spitfire Radio C.I.C

Project description: Spitfire Radio will benefit the community through broadcasting interviews and stories related to the Spitfire and Second World War. These will be archived and available for public access. 

Decision: Reject

Sustaining SPID's Resilience

Applicant: SPID Theatre Company Limited

Project description: This project will strengthen SPID’s organisation resilience, enhance skills and employment opportunities and promote inclusion. It will do so in several ways, including: a skills audit, updated business plan and staff and trustee training. 

Decision: Reject

Bison Bridges

Applicant: Kent Wildlife Trust

Project description: This is phase 1 of a 2-phase project. This project is phase one out of two at Wilder Blean. It will prepare the sites and conduct capital works necessary to install two of the bridges, enabling bison to travel between two connected areas of West Blean woodland. There will be orientation materials, wellbeing sessions and outreach to schools and universities. 

Decision: Award grant of £245,773

Connecting Disabled people and unpaid carers to park heritage

Applicant: Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation

Project description: This is a project to increase access to parks in the Bristol and Bath area, focussing on Disabled people and unpaid carers. This will be done through small capital improvements to the park and the created on of a Park Accessibility Toolkit. 

Decision: Reject

Pathways to Heritage

Applicant: Chiltern Open Air Museum Limited

Project description: This will see Chiltern Open Air Museum deliver a paid traineeship programme for four placements (two back-to-back) in Marketing & Visitor Experience and Collections & Interpretation. Each trainee will receive training opportunities internal and external to the museum and will be granted a £4,000 budget to deliver their own special projects over the 20-month period of their placement.

Decision: Reject

Revealing our heritage in Beckenham, Chislehurst and Orpington

Applicant: London Borough Of Bromley

Project description: The project is going to work with local community groups in the Bromley borough area to explore local stories and the Bromley Historic Collections, leading to the curation of three permanent exhibitions in the respective libraries of Beckenham, Chislehurst and Orpington. The project will be moving items from the centralised Bromley Historic Collections into the local town libraries to enable greater community engagement.

Decision: Reject

“An astonishing feat”: the incredible bravery of Adam Miller

Applicant: Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Museum

Project description: The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (R.E.M.E) Museum, located in Wiltshire, seek funding to deliver an eight-month project which will see the acquisition and display of a group of military medals awarded to Warrant Officer Second Class (WO2) Adam Miller, a R.E.M.E soldier and recovery mechanic who served with the British Army from 1998 to 2023.

Decision: Award grant of £124,224

Grant increases

Big Church Project (Restore) – The Roof

Applicant: Blandford Forum PCC

Project description: Repair and restore the roofs and ceilings of the Grade I listed Church of St Pater and St Pauls in Blandford Forum, Dorset.

Decision: Award grant increase of £98,976 to make a total grant of £763,376