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
Brothers Behind Bars: HMP Low Moss explores the experiences of the Great War's conscientious objectors
A group of prisoners attending the Learning Centre at HMP Low Moss explored stories of the First World War, and of those incarcerated as conscientious objectors, by using music, art, drama and creative writing.
Projects
Discovering Black heritage in Toxteth, Liverpool
The L8 Untold Project will engage volunteers in uncovering and recording hidden histories of Britain’s oldest Black community.
![Taking the show to family audience at Brighton Fringe Two women dressed in male first world war uniform at family event](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/hlf_family_picnic_brighton_fringe_2015.png.webp?itok=AzY3Ogrq)
Projects
'All The Nice Girls' - women in men's roles on stage 1914-1918
First World War LGBT project looking at the lives of women working on stage in male roles.
Projects
No Facebook? OMG! Exploring life before social media
Young people from Fareham researched and curated an exhibition exploring the relationship between technology and teenagers since the 1960s.
![Trustees outside the last remaining coracle shed Three people stand outside a large closed shed with a sign saying awaiting restoration](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/su-14-01582_coraclephoto.jpg.webp?itok=d4khEowg)
Projects
Ironbridge Coracle Heritage
A small group of volunteers set out to preserve the last remaining coracle maker's workshop on the River Severn and started the Ironbridge Coracle Trust.
Projects
Victoria Park Primary Academy - Memories of spice in Smethwick
The role of spices in shaping local culture, cuisine and customs has been captured thanks to a community history project in Smethwick, Sandwell in the West Midlands.
Projects
Celebrating Cumbria’s LGBT history
The Celebrate project will collect memories, stories, photographs and objects in order to explore the heritage of LGBT communities in Cumbria.
![Revealing medieval Abberley Volunteer with archaeological find at Abberley dig](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/abberly_lives.jpg.webp?itok=VJBQqjkI)
Projects
Revealing medieval Abberley
Volunteers and school children used archaeological techniques to discover the lost heritage of Abberley, Worcestershire.
Projects
Capacity Building and Cultural Ownership - the V&A in partnership with culturally diverse communities
Through new partnerships with diverse ethnic communities, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (V&A) sought to encourage cultural ownership of its collections and develop heritage skills for people within and outside the museum.
Projects
Primary school children explore the stories of the Fens
Primary schools explored the customs and traditional stories of the Fens and shared their learning through art, performance, music, exhibitions and publications.
Projects
Building resilience in Sunderland ship-building heritage charity
Sunderland’s 600-year-old ship building heritage is celebrated by the enthusiastic volunteers of Sunderland Maritime Heritage (SMH).
Projects
Exploring the history of African footballers in the UK
From Ghana-born Arthur Wharton in the 1880s to Togolese Spurs star Emmanuel Adebayor, African footballers have been bringing their incredible skills to the UK's professional football leagues for nearly 130 years.