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.
Projects
Recording the stories of Wiltshire's Arctic Star Veterans
The project is identifying and recording the stories of Arctic convoy veterans.
Projects
Makers, miners and money: sharing Yorkshire's industrial heritage
The East Peak Innovation Partnership has been working with volunteers to explore the fascinating stories of the south-west Yorkshire hills and industrial valleys.
![Sharing Sindhi Crafts Members show off their craft](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/sindhi_crafts.gif.webp?itok=MG6qEsnI)
Projects
Sharing Sindhi Crafts
The Sharing Sindhi Crafts project used crafts as a way to bring people together and share long held traditions.
![Archival image from town bus during war Archive picture of bus drivers](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/natters.png.webp?itok=H0prb3xW)
Projects
Aylesbury Town Natters
This project explored the period between World Wars in Aylesbury through research and interviewing locals about their experiences.
![Tracks in Time: Awakening and celebrating the railway heritage of Netherfield People look at a model railway](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/tracksintime_1125.jpg.webp?itok=gfGjGQY9)
Projects
Tracks in Time: Awakening and celebrating the railway heritage of Netherfield
The Tracks in Time project enabled the people of Netherfield in Nottinghamshire to celebrate and explore the town’s unique history.
![Clay Trails sensory walk](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/clay_trails_project_image_for_web.jpg.webp?itok=Yxj6OTgC)
Projects
Clay trails sensory guide
This project saw the creation of a series of mini accessible and sensory-rich interpretation guides to the outdoor landscape of the clay trails in mid Cornwall.
![A lifebuoy from the Weymouth Sailing Club A lifebuoy from the Weymouth Sailing Club](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/weymouth_sailing.jpg.webp?itok=cmtC03di)
Projects
Weymouth Sailing Club Centenary Exhibition
As Weymouth Sailing Club reached its 100th anniversary, a group of volunteers undertook a project to celebrate and share local sailing heritage.
![Herts at War 1914-1918 First World War archive material including medals and photographs](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/oh-13-05147_bn_poignantreminder_01.jpg.webp?itok=qsUL80AL)
Projects
Herts at War 1914-1918
Communities across Hertfordshire explored their county’s experience of the First World War, engaging the public by creating an exhibition and website.
Projects
The Swaledale Big Dig
Swaledale Big Dig is uncovering and recording the archaeology and history of the local settlements of Grinton and Reeth.
Projects
'Beyond Graffiti': waymarking through time & the role of milestones in our heritage
Beyond Graffiti taught stone working skills and local history awareness to a new generation of craftsmen to safeguard the future of Kirklees’ waymarkers.
Projects
Killyleagh Remembers: sharing local Catholic and Protestant stories of war
Catholic and Protestant communities were brought together in this project investigating the impact of the First World War on the local area.
Projects
'Gone but not forgotten' - remembering those from Petersfield affected by the First World War
Petersfield Museum used the medium of dance to tell the stories of Hampshire residents in the First World War.