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.

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Projects

Yemeni Roots, Salford Lives

The Yemeni Roots project captured the story of the Yemeni community in Eccles through a variety of oral history interviews, reminiscence work and creative art.

Recording LGBT memories

Projects

Leicester LGBT Heritage Project

This three-year project recorded the oral histories of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland's LGBTQ+ communities, from before partial decriminalisation in 1967 to the present day.

A group of people from Granby Somali Women's group stand in a circle

Projects

Celebrating Somali community roots in Liverpool

The Understanding and Celebrating our Roots project explored the historical links between Britain and Somaliland through capturing oral histories from Liverpool’s Somali community.

Female football player, No Game For Girls project
A re-enactment of the first female munition workers football match in Coventry nearly 100 years on

Projects

No Game For Girls: A history of women's football in WW1

No game for girls explored how First World War munitionette football teams drew crowds of thousands before they were banned after the war by an anti-women’s football campaign.

Group of school children
Pupils of Onslow St Audreys School

Projects

WWI - Near & Far

The WW1 Near and Far project involved nearly half of the Onslow St Audrey’s school in Welwyn Garden City learning about the First World War.

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