Community heritage
![Visiting the 1950s hairdresser at Beamish Museum. Credit: Nigel Roddis The interior of a 1950s hairdresser's shop. A visitor is having their hair styled by a stylist in vintage clothing. A child sits in a high chair next to the visitor.](/sites/default/files/styles/main_image_desktop/public/media/imgs/Visiting%20the%201950s%20hairdresser%20at%20Beamish%20Museum%20credit%20Nigel%20Roddis%202.jpg.webp?itok=9ra5SSfo)
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.
![National Lottery money helps community discover its hidden hillfort Bringing communities together](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/11693812_883221141724536_4027622230324556363_n.jpg.webp?itok=30wBF2Wc)
News
National Lottery money helps community discover its hidden hillfort
![How the National Lottery transformed London’s first Borough of Culture Illuminated heart artwork](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/National-Lottery-Heritage-Fund-walthamstow-CREDIT-John-Sitwell-PA-Wire_0.jpg.webp?itok=Aqrm021m)
News
How The National Lottery transformed London’s first Borough of Culture
![Sleaford’s historic drinking fountain to enter the fightback against plastic waste People standing by water fountain](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/water-fountain-fund.jpg.webp?itok=wcEJtEbO)
News
Sleaford’s historic drinking fountain to enter the fightback against plastic waste
![LGBT History Month: building an inclusive future Liz Ellis](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/liz_ellis_first_choice_0.jpg.webp?itok=fGntkFt0)
Blogs
LGBTQ+ heritage: building an inclusive future
![Jaded in a park](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/Still%202.jpg.webp?itok=pEwcF7h2)
Stories
Changing lives: Jade's journey from care to college
![Black History Live Exhibits in a museum](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/untold-stories-image.jpg.webp?itok=MlBJJIhV)
Projects
Black History live
Black History Live revealed the stories of Kent’s African and Caribbean residents of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Projects
Human Henge: historic landscapes and mental health at Stonehenge
Human Henge improved participants' mental health by providing high quality, small group experiences of archaeology and historic landscapes.
![Nadolig yn dod yn gynnar i Eglwys Sant Grwst diolch i anrheg gan y Loteri Genedlaethol Eglwys Sant Grwst](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/st_grwst_1.jpg.webp?itok=VquYVabT)
News
Christmas comes early for St Grwst Church thanks to National Lottery
![UK’s oldest open-air pools to be restored to their former glory Man doing a handstand by a swimming pool](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/cleveland_pools_in_1960s_-_handstand_man_ron_gray._copyright_the_wessex_water_historical_archives.jpg.webp?itok=EIRWLlmM)
News
UK’s oldest open-air pools to be restored to their former glory
![A close up of meadow plants in the sunlight](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/wwwmeadow_management_2_1.jpg.webp?itok=235Hd0AT)
Projects
Creating Natural Connections in Cumbernauld
The Scottish Wildlife Trust are bringing transformational change to Cumbernauld’s natural heritage, and helping local people engage with its greenspaces to improve mental health.
![Rainbow Pilgrims: The Rites and Passages of LGBTQI Migrants in Britain Rainbow Pilgrims: The Rites and Passages of LGBTQI Migrants in Britain](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/rainbow%20pilgrims%20image.jpg.webp?itok=VaImP6M0)
Projects
Rainbow Pilgrims: The Rites and Passages of LGBTQ+ Migrants in Britain
Liberal Judaism, a multi-faith support organisation, discovered that the stories of many of the LGBTQ+ migrants they met were being lost.
![Hull UK City of Culture 2017 Cultural Programme Hull UK City of Culture 2017 Cultural Programme](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/HG-15-07713_WaltonStreetMarketCommunityEngagement_2017WaltonStreetMarket25thOctober201663_cThomasArran_1.jpg.webp?itok=laBOBNJp)
Projects
Hull UK City of Culture 2017
As holders of the UK City of Culture title in 2017, Hull received a grant of £3million to embed its rich heritage into the heart of its year-long cultural programme.