Cultures and memories
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 which help to explore, save and celebrate the traditions, customs, skills and knowledge of different communities.
This cultural heritage is sometimes referred to as intangible or living heritage. This is because it is constantly changing and kept alive when practiced or performed.
We also fund projects which document and share people’s memories. This often involves capturing oral histories and ensuring they are accessible now and in the future.
Project ideas
Our funding could help people:
- research and share oral traditions, such as storytelling or local dialects
- train others in traditional skills and crafts, from dry stone walling and blacksmithing to basket weaving and textile making
- research the origins of culture, such as music, theatre or dance, and create performances influenced by past styles
- share the history and fun of celebrations, festivals or rituals with new audiences, from games and cooking to carnivals and fayres
- capture accounts of traditional knowledge or pass it on, such as woodland management or home remedies
- record the stories of ordinary people through oral histories, for example about growing up, migration or work
- retell people’s memories about a place or event, such as a long-stay hospital, the miners' strikes or the punk movement
How to get funding
If you have an idea for a project, we would love to hear from you.
Stories
Shining a light on Arthur Wharton: the first black professional footballer
Projects
The Hidden Heritage of Wellbeing in the Community: co-creating oral histories of mental health care
Nottingham’s Middle Street Resource Centre celebrated 50 years of service by recording stories from its community with researchers at Nottingham Trent University.
Stories
How artists can uncover hidden histories and fill gaps in the archives
Projects
Wotta Lotta Culture – The Birmingham Allotment Project
This oral history project has celebrated the communities at the heart of the ‘allotment capital’ of the UK.
Projects
Sickle Cell Stories - Then and Now: Plasma of Hope
The Sickle Cell Stories project is capturing and sharing stories of sickle cell disease in the west midlands, paving the way for positive change.
News
£2.5million awarded to first 11 Heritage Places projects across the UK
Projects
Where East meets West: Celebrating South-Asian LGBTQ+ Heritage through Club Kali Network
We’re helping the UK’s first safe space for LGBTQ+ people of South Asian heritage to preserve and showcase their history dating back to 1995.
Projects
Groundwork: sharing the untold stories of people with learning disabilities
This New Ground is supporting people with learning disabilities in Portsmouth to make their voices heard through oral history.
News
Sign up your project for National Lottery Open Week 2025
Stories
Preserving the unique experiences and advice of people from the past
Stories
Inclusion, access and participation: eight ways to improve your project’s reach and impact
Projects
The Big Up! Podcasts sharing social narratives that reflect diversity
The Big House Theatre Company is empowering young people to explore and tell the stories of ethnic minority people who have made a lasting impact on the UK.
Projects
Our Heritage: supporting D/deaf children in Walsall
Families of children with D/deafness or hearing impairments took part in social activities that taught them about local heritage, traditions and skills passed down through generations.
Blogs
Rebel Curators: reclaiming narratives of slavery at Bristol’s M-Shed
Projects
Newbridge’s arts and heritage hub safeguarded for the community
This historic miners’ institute, with its 1920s Art Deco theatre, ballroom and versatile spaces now hosts a variety of activities that benefit local people.
Projects
Harcourt Road: parallel histories in Sheffield and Hong Kong
A mobile museum is collecting stories of activism, identity and placemaking across two streets 6,000 miles apart.
News
Celebrating East and South East Asian heritage: sharing memories, stories and even kimchi
Projects
Forgotten Faces of the First World War: The Chinese Labour Corps
The Meridian Society and documentary filmmaker Peng Wenlan collected oral histories for a documentary about the Chinese men who worked as labourers on the Western Front during the First World War.
Projects
Kimjang, Making and Sharing Kimchi
The practices of a UNESCO-recognised Korean tradition were recorded and preserved for the future and celebrated with the wider community.
Projects
Malaysian Angels of the NHS
Newham Chinese Association are gathering oral histories of 20 Malaysian nurses who arrived to the UK to work for the NHS from the 1950s onwards.