They’ve been successful in securing money for repairs and restoration work to much-loved landmarks, shop fronts and boarded-up buildings.

The latest investment of £19.3m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is providing an essential economic leg-up as well as vital employment and training opportunities, from start-up spaces for small businesses to enhanced public places for residents and visitors. The uniting factor in all the schemes is that they are part of a wider strategy for improving the UK’s high streets and conservation areas.

Ben Greener, who advises HLF on regeneration, commented: “We believe that historic townscapes are the beating heart of local places. Past research shows that even small changes, such as improving shop fronts or restoring a building’s historic features, can make a real difference.”

High Streets Minister Penny Mordaunt welcomed news of the funding: “We know from the pride and enthusiasm that people have for their high streets that they are an essential part of many communities. Projects like these can bring enormous benefits to town centres and provide catalysis for wider regeneration that creates more businesses and jobs.”

The HLF’s Townscape Heritage (TH) programme has a track record of delivering successful regeneration schemes across the UK. 251 townscape-focussed projects have benefited from £253m which has helped create attractive, vibrant places that people want to live, work and invest in. This latest tranche of TH projects stretches from Fraserburgh on the Aberdeenshire coast in north-eastern Scotland, down to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire and along to Dolgellau in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales.