Community heritage

Community heritage

A group of people with handmade props and decorations
Act for Action CIC, recipients of a community heritage grant from One Knowsley. Photo: Act for Action CIC.
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.

Volunteers testing the digital trail

Projects

Out and Proud Histories in Greater Manchester

The Out and Proud project explores and celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) histories and heritage across Greater Manchester using digital technologies.

People standing in front of a puppet war horse
Peckham War Horse Project

Projects

Peckham War Horse Project

Communities from Peckham came together to recreate a photograph of war horses destined for the Western Front.

Geophysical survey at Cawood with community archaeologist, Jon Kenny
Geophysical survey at Cawood with community archaeologist, Jon Kenny

Projects

Keesbury Manor in Cawood: from manor house to market garden

Volunteers from Cawood in Selby have been trained as heritage detectives to investigate the archaeology of their local moated manor site and the surprising importance of gooseberries for the development of the village.

Part of the display at Reading Museum
Part of the display at Reading Museum

Projects

History of Chinese People in Reading

The history of Chinese migrants in Reading, so far undocumented, is now available to all thanks to a heritage project spanning multiple generations.

Two young people look at a photo
Young people carry out research for the project

Projects

Back-a-yard

This project was designed to give young people the opportunity to preserve the heritage of the African Caribbean community living in Newport.

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