Community heritage
Visiting the 1950s hairdresser at Beamish Museum. Credit: Nigel Roddis
Celebrating community heritage can help people come together, feel pride in where they live and save stories and traditions.
Since 1994 we have awarded £460million to more than 24,100 community and cultural heritage projects across the UK.
What do we support?
We fund projects that are researching, conserving and celebrating the heritage of a community or place.
These projects could include lots of types of heritage, such as people celebrating living customs or improving a historic green space. What's most important is that the project involves and benefits the community.
Project ideas
Our funding could help people:
- research the impact of a historical event on their town, and share their findings through displays, talks and online
- investigate the names on a war memorial
- crowdsource documents and photographs linked to the LGBTQ+ community, creating an online archive and exhibition
- set up an audio trail around a range of buildings, parks and monuments in a town
- enable a youth group to research their local history and create an animated film about their learnings
For more inspiration, see the stories below or browse projects we've funded.
How to get funding
If you have an idea for a project, we would love to hear from you.
Stories
Making friends through heritage: four stories
Nelli and Zara Aratta: Armenian Heritage in the North West Zara, project manager: We were organising a food event on Albert Square and I posted about it on Facebook to see if people would like to take part. Nelli messaged me straight away saying that she would make a few dishes and bake a cake
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National Lottery Awards shortlist announced
Nominations have been drawn from the past quarter of a century to celebrate The National Lottery’s 25th Birthday.
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South London pub reopens after £4million from National Lottery
The Fellowship And Star in Bellingham, once home to boxer Henry Cooper, set to be heart of community once more.
Blogs
Why communities are essential to sharing the stories of Pride
These significant and inclusive events raise the profile of all sorts of LGBT+ lived experiences, celebrate activism and build stronger alliances. They increasingly involve people of all ages, cultures and faiths in publicly sharing differing identities. Alongside Stonewall’s 50th anniversary this
News
Launch of £100million Heritage Horizon Awards
We will invest £100million over the next three years in ambitious, innovative and transformational projects that will revolutionise UK heritage.
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How Durlston Country Park is helping people overcome isolation
A coastal park is helping people overcome physical and social isolation as part of a project funded by the National Lottery.
News
Narberth’s golden era of pop and rock remembered
Now, a grant from the National Lottery means the hall will house a permanent exhibition to its rocking past using memorabilia and stories from the time, gathered by a group of volunteers. From football social club to rock band royalty What began as a fundraising initiative by two local men for their
Stories
Changing lives: how Sean is helping others leave addiction behind
Right in the centre of Bristol, next to the busy bus station, is the city’s oldest building, the 900-year-old National Lottery-funded St James Priory Church. On the same site is St James House, a residential support centre for people recovering from addiction. Both are run by St James House Project
News
Iconic Manchester music venue to be saved
In an era when many music venues are closing, Band on the Wall in Manchester is coming back for an encore.
News
Edinburgh’s pioneering Wellington boot factory reborn
The people of Fountainbridge in Edinburgh are this weekend celebrating the reopening of a building they love - a symbol of their industrial past and a reminder of how their community was shaped by the Wellington boot.
Stories
Changing lives: volunteering helps Ben turn away from trouble
The youth club at the Galley Centre offered the young people of Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, a reason to keep off the streets and out of trouble. But when bored teenagers, including some of 17-year-old Ben's friends, vandalised the centre, the youth club was closed down. It left them with nothing to do
News
The story of the Hornchurch skatepark that made history
The Hornchurch site holds a very special place in the hearts of skaters and BMX riders across the world. Supported by The National Lottery, they have come together to tell their stories, the story of Rom and now the fight to secure its future. A little corner of California Built during a very rainy