Community heritage | The National Lottery Heritage Fund

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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.

Explore our available funding

A head and shoulders image of Helen Featherstone

Helen Featherstone.

Blogs

A year as Director of England, North: resilience and saving heritage

Our Director of England, North Helen Featherstone reflects on her first year in the role, the needs of heritage organisations in the North and our commitment to supporting resilience.

15/02/2024

Three young people making a film, one person is holding a microphone, another a clapperboard, and one person is waiting to be interviewed

Young people making a film as part of the I Me Us Boundless project.

Projects

I Me Us Boundless: sharing stories of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in Cumbria

Through the collection of stories, this project will document the lived experiences of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in Cumbria.

12/01/2023

Leaders of the project pose for a group photo

From left to right: Scott Cuthbertson, Director of The Rainbow Project, Mukesh Sharma, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Northern Ireland NI Committee Chair, Cara McCann, Director of HERe NI and Adam Murray, Community Development Manager at Cara-Friend.

Projects

Creating Northern Ireland’s LGBTQ+ heritage archive

A collaborative effort will record and share Northern Ireland’s modern LGBTQ+ history.

06/09/2022

An older and younger participant at a workshop

Suffolk Artlink brought people from different generations together.

Projects

Lowestoft Folk: bridging generations

This intergenerational project collaborated with two museums and their dedicated volunteers to delve into local folk heritage.

19/09/2017

A group of people wearing cold weather gear stand on the platform of a rural train station holding a sign

Members of the Friends of Blair Atholl station.

Projects

On track to tell the community’s stories of a Highland railway station

Blair Atholl station opened in 1863, as the development of rail travel opened up the Highlands to visitors and created new opportunities for local people.

28/11/2023

3) A visitor using a mobility scooter in the Wellbeing Garden at RHS Garden Wisley

The Wellbeing Garden is one of the many spaces with improved accessibility at RHS Garden Wisley.

Stories

RHS Garden Wisley elevates accessibility and participation through collaborative initiatives

Wisley set out to increase the physical accessibility of their spaces, but with commitment and help from partners their journey led them down a much more ambitious path.

A black and white group photo of about 30 people. The front row of people are using wheelchairs, with others standing on steps behind them.

A 1991 group photo of disability arts practitioners. David Hevey is standing fifth from the right in the second row.

Blogs

Sharing radical heritage demands a radical approach

Shape Arts’ passionate director, David Hevey, is taking a disruptive, digital approach to sharing disabled people’s voices with the world.

04/12/2023

A black and white photograph of Delia creating electronic music.

Delia Derbyshire working in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Stories

Celebrating the music pioneer Delia Derbyshire on Doctor Who's 60th anniversary

From oral histories to hands-on workshops, we’ve awarded over £100,000 to three projects that are preserving the story of an innovative electronic musician.

A colourful sculpture of an hibiscus flower

Hibiscus Rising sculpture by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA.

Projects

Hibiscus Rising: celebrating cultural heritage inspired by the legacy of David Oluwale

A community engagement programme will accompany a public artwork, Hibiscus Rising, created by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA to honour David Oluwale.

03/10/2023

A group of people stand together with the Delia Derbyshire collections

The Delia Derbyshire Day team with objects from the Delia Derbyshire archive.

Projects

Delia Derbyshire Day: a celebration of an electronic music pioneer

This project is engaging young people with the unique heritage of early electronic music by marking 60 years of Doctor Who.

05/12/2022

Three people are looking at worksheets and smiling.

Participants at the residential event in June 2023, as part of Heritage Trade Up.

Stories

Five tips for more robust and innovative heritage organisations

Hear from the organisations who took part in our Business Support and Enterprise campaign about how they improved organisational resilience in challenging times.

Ted at his shop in Forest Gate

Ted at Etty & Tyler motor and cycle repair shop in Forest Gate.

Projects

Full Cycle: a history of cycling in Forest Gate

This project will look at the cycling history of Forest Gate in Newham – an important cycling epicentre in the late 19th century close to Epping Forest.

04/10/2023