Cultures and memories
![Young people reading poetry around a microphone](/sites/default/files/styles/main_image_desktop/public/media/imgs/R2R%20on%20the%20road%20poetry%20copy.jpg.webp?itok=RJ-Eprwz)
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.
Projects
100 years and still serving: a centenary heritage project
A group of blind and visually impaired Derbyshire residents explored the history of the First World War and created a piece of tactile artwork.
![The Colour of Love in 1940s-1970s Nottinghamshire Mixed-race couple](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/Sue%20%26%20Andy%20Anderson%203%20cropped.jpg.webp?itok=8tFjk9Fw)
Stories
Pride and prejudice: stories of love against the odds
![Eulogy - telling a Windrush generation's story Susan Pitter](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/sue-pitter.jpg.webp?itok=ljl2cwia)
Blogs
Eulogy - telling the stories of first generation Jamaicans
![After Windrush - telling stories of struggle and celebration Milton Brown](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/milton-brown.png.webp?itok=nnzF8Hbd)
Stories
After Windrush - telling stories of struggle and celebration
![Every voice matters - collecting black stories Nasir Adams](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/WNS_180419_St%20Fagans_Jamaica_Community_Film_78.jpg.webp?itok=mOlPihiV)
Blogs
Every voice matters - collecting black stories
![How a 200-year-old society is inspiring young minorities in Brum Young man](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/Lunar-eugene.jpg.webp?itok=T8b7xfPk)
Blogs
How a 200-year-old society is inspiring young minorities in Brum
![Blaenavon](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/IMG_2186.JPEG.webp?itok=kmynLpsk)
News
25 years: voices from Blaenavon
![First LGBT+ project to be funded in Northern Ireland LGBT flag](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/sharon-mccutcheon-lgbt-unsplash.jpg.webp?itok=TMEKlo8W)
News
First large-scale LGBT+ project to be funded in Northern Ireland
![Five Cornish treasures found at Kresen Kernow Kresen Kernow](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/DSC_4422.jpg.webp?itok=AGWgSZFR)
News
Five Cornish treasures found at Kresen Kernow
![In conversation: Jan Pimblett and Veronica McKenzie on engagement, archives and collecting stories of LGBT+ people’s lives Jan Pimblett, recently retired from the London Metropolitan Archives, and Veronica McKenzie, from the Haringey Vanguard BAME LGBT+ project talking at the kitchen table](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/landing-blocks/in%20conversation%20image%201.jpg.webp?itok=edS-YSKQ)
Stories
In conversation: Jan Pimblett and Veronica McKenzie on archives and collecting stories of LGBT+ people’s lives
![The first six months: our Strategic Funding Framework Men in a train](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/imgs/Bo%27ness%20%26%20KInneil%20Railway%20train.jpeg.webp?itok=_5pR8PlZ)
News
The first six months: our Strategic Funding Framework
News