Cultures and memories

Cultures and memories

Young people reading poetry around a microphone
Routes2Roots project in Birmingham
These are the customs and traditions, skills and knowledge, passed down to us through generations.

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.

Embracing Africa festival
Taking part in the Embracing Africa Festival

Projects

Embracing Africa Project

This 12-month project collected objects and historical information that are important to people and the history of their country, ranging from objects on childbirth to marriage.

A group of young people in front of a wall
A group of students involved in the project

Projects

Jane Austen Walks

A student-led project created a mobile phone app that updates a Jane Austen walking trail in Hampshire to mark 200 years since the author’s death.

Handmade gold jewellery with red and green gemstones displayed on an intricately carved stand
Handmade gold jewellery with red and green gemstones

Projects

Panjab Connections

National Museums Scotland worked with the Glasgow Gurdwara and Sikh Sanjog to explore Sikh heritage through the history of the boy Maharaja.

Participants logging archive materials
Participants logging archive materials

Projects

50 Years of MPA

Mid Pennine Arts (MPA) is looking back through their archives to help celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Participants discussing one of the exhibition items
Participants discussing one of the exhibition items

Projects

Lest We Forget

Refugees and asylum seekers in Glasgow explored the experiences of Belgian refugees during the First World War.

Ardgowan Primary school memory box
The Ardgowan Primary school created 12 memory boxes

Projects

Touching Memory

Touching Memory created memory boxes for people with dementia that explore the everyday life of people living in Inverclyde from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Thurrock
There has been a real appetite amongst Thurrock residents to learn more about the work of this relatively unknown local scholar.

Projects

Raising awareness in Thurrock of Alfred Russel Wallace

Funding was used by volunteers of Thurrock Local History Society to collate material for displays about the little-known achievements of Alfred Russell Wallace who was resident at The Dell in Grays Thurrock in the 19th century.

Women in World War I: The Welsh Experience
Margaret Ann Lloyd and friend at Mannesman Ammunitions

Projects

Women in World War I: The Welsh Experience

This 12-month project focused on the hidden histories of women in the First World War. It marked the Centenary of 1915 – the year when women were first actively encouraged to undertake work traditionally performed by men.

Two volunteers in Roman costume
Volunteers get to grips with Roman costume

Projects

Bridge to the Future

Young people from Chesterton changed their attitude to their neighbourhood by uncovering its Roman past.

If you query is regarding our application portal, please contact our support team.