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Investing in heritage of diverse ethnic communities

Investing in heritage of diverse ethnic communities

a group of people with black and white skin stand around a book of records in an archive
Dig Where You Stand, North Yorkshire. Photo: Alicia Barrett.
Heritage belongs to us all – which is why we want to help tell everyone's stories.

At The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we support all sorts of projects which explore and celebrate the heritage of diverse ethnic communities.

We want to support all communities to explore and share their heritage, enriching people’s lives and increasing the diversity of heritage workforces, leadership and audiences. That's why under our Heritage 2033 investment principles inclusion, access and participation must be part of every project we fund.

The terms we use

Some of the terms we use include:

  • diverse ethnic communities, or ethnically diverse communities. In Scotland we use MECC (minority ethnic and cultural community). We have revised our usage of the term BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic).
  • LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other identities)
  • Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. This describes a range of ethnic groups or people with nomadic ways of life who are not from a specific ethnicity.

We use these terms because we believe they are widely understood. Identities can be complex and intersectional, and we are also aware that for many these terms may feel inadequate or limiting. We keep the language we use constantly under review.

Get inspiration for your project

Explore the projects below and find out more about applying for our funding.

An Asian brass band, with musicians and dancers dressed in colourful clothes, walking down a path in front of a stately home
An Indian brass band was part of the celebrations at Wentworth Woodhouse's outdoor family event, WE Wonder, in 2023.

Stories

Turning a stately home into a ‘house of opportunity’

How one project has successfully engaged its community with their local heritage and created benefits beyond just visiting.
Three black people take part in a workshop on black history. All three people have dark skin of various shades, the focus of the image is a woman holding a magazine with black people on the cover
A Rebel Curators workshop at M Shed in October 2024. Andreann Asibey (left), Jazz Thompson (middle) and Bandele Iyapo (right). Photo: Julz Davis.

Blogs

Rebel Curators: reclaiming narratives of slavery at Bristol’s M-Shed

Co-creation with the African-Caribbean community, made possible with £70,000 in National Lottery funding, is another step towards including their perspectives in telling Bristol’s history.
A group of black people pose for a photo including a woman
Marie-Claire Kofi, seated right, hopes her organisation's project will empower people who have sickle cell disease.

Projects

Sickle Cell Stories - Then and Now: Plasma of Hope

The Sickle Cell Stories project is capturing and sharing stories of sickle cell disease in the west midlands, paving the way for positive change.

Two people of Chinese heritage play a drum in a procession, while people in the background hold placards with photos of Chinese relatives
Ancestral Futures by Eelyn Lee and collaborators, commissioned by Dig Where You Stand. Photo: Anh Do.

Stories

How artists can uncover hidden histories and fill gaps in the archives

South Yorkshire project Dig Where You Stand invited creatives to explore the often overlooked and poorly documented evidence of people from diverse ethnic communities across the area's history.
A black and white photo of chinese men who were members of the Chinese Labour Corps
Members of the Chinese Labour Corps. Photo: W J Hawkings Collection, courtesy of John de Lucy.

Projects

Forgotten Faces of the First World War: The Chinese Labour Corps

The Meridian Society and documentary filmmaker Peng Wenlan collected oral histories for a documentary about the Chinese men who worked as labourers on the Western Front during the First World War.

An event at Newham Chinese Association
An event at Newham Chinese Association. Photo: Newham Chinese Association.

Projects

Malaysian Angels of the NHS

Newham Chinese Association are gathering oral histories of 20 Malaysian nurses who arrived to the UK to work for the NHS from the 1950s onwards.

Three people working on the Roma Heritage Project.
The Europia team working on the Roma Heritage Project. Photo: Joanna Rajs.

Projects

Exploring and recording Manchester’s Roma heritage

The Roma Heritage Project will work with local people in Manchester to share traditional dishes and record oral histories from Roma communities.

The left side of the image shows a traditional Traveller wagon, painted with decorative designs, and the right side of the image shows a man leading a pony and trap which a girl is riding
The project held an outdoor fair-style event in June 2023.

Projects

Roma and Irish Travellers: A Shared Story

People from different cultures and backgrounds came together for workshops and celebration events about Roma and Irish Traveller cultural heritage organised by Armagh Roma Traveller Support.

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