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)
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.
![Image of two children who were patients at Hensol Image of two children who were patients at Hensol](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/huty1856218.jpg.webp?itok=oGZ-MXJm)
Image of two children who were patients at Hensol
News
Unique learning disability exhibition launches in Swansea
Stories of Wales’ long-stay institutions hidden no more.
![Images of Egypt and Palestine A British officer on duty in Egypt](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/officer_monument.jpg.webp?itok=L1cLMMWC)
News
Images of Egypt and Palestine
Awarded through HLF’s Our Heritage programme, the project will focus on collecting and making accessible images of Egypt and Palestine as they would have been seen by people during the First World War. To mark the Centenary of the First World War, a series of roadshows in England and Wales along
![Historypin launches new First World War Centenary hub Front page of the Historypin First World War site](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/historypin_fww.png.webp?itok=mE-bj9zg)
News
Historypin launches new First World War Centenary hub
Today, the community history website Historypin launched its new First World War Centenary hub at a special event in the Houses of Parliament hosted by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
![Remembering the peace movement in Wales Remembering the peace movement in Wales](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/hg-12-10910_peacefloatcardiffcorbiscompingimage.jpg.webp?itok=PCx1d1UX)
Remembering the peace movement in Wales
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Wales for Peace: Lottery funding for Wales-wide First World War project
The heritage of the peace movement in Wales can now be researched and discovered in depth as a result of a £918,000 grant awarded by HLF to the Welsh Centre for International Affairs. The Cymru dros Heddwch/Wales for Peace project will span four years, focusing on one central question: in the 100
![Bilingual interpretation boards at the Holyhead Maritime Museum Bilingual interpretation boards at the Holyhead Maritime Museum](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/holyheadexhibiton.jpg.webp?itok=HqQ6rJn8)
Bilingual interpretation boards at the Holyhead Maritime Museum
News
First World War remembered in Anglesey thanks to Lottery funding
HLF has recently awarded over £20,000 to projects in Anglesey, which will ensure the repair of the memorial village clock in Gwalchmai, expand and revitalise Holyhead’s Maritime Museum and fund a programme of commemorative events in Beaumaris. Jennifer Stewart, Head of HLF, Wales said, “We want to
![Carys Howell speaking at an event Carys Howell speaking at an event](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/caryshowell.jpg.webp?itok=GBWcEKGZ)
Carys Howell speaking at an event
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Opportunities to join Wales Committee
I was first attracted to applying for a role as a Committee member because HLF looks at heritage in its broadest sense. It includes landscapes, people, language and it also covers the whole of Wales. I know how important it is that heritage in all its forms across Wales is protected so this was a
![HLF-funded projects are invited to be part of a Centenary archive HLF-funded projects are invited to be part of a Centenary archive](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/onlinelegacy.jpg.webp?itok=tVyCHyvj)
HLF-funded projects are invited to be part of a Centenary archive
News
An online legacy of the First World War Centenary
It is 100 years since the First World War began. To mark the Centenary, thousands of people across the UK are uncovering, exploring and telling the stories of the First World War, and in many cases, sharing them online. It’s important that these stories are not forgotten. They are being preserved
![Members of Oasis Cardiff Members of Oasis Cardiff](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/refugeeswales.jpg.webp?itok=f2zULAVY)
Members of Oasis Cardiff
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Refugee stories to be heard in Wales – in their own words
The project will be run by Oasis Cardiff, a registered charity based in Cardiff established as a centre providing support for refugees and asylum seekers. Announcing the award, Jennifer Stewart Head of HLF Wales, said: “This creative project will help real stories be told, not just in Cardiff but
![Educational activity at Giant's Causeway Educational activity at Giant's Causeway](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/giantscauseway.jpg.webp?itok=3ntS-tBc)
Educational activity at Giant's Causeway
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Opportunities to join our Committees
The work of our CommitteesOur committees meet four times a year and take decisions on requests between £100,000 and £2million. They also provide crucial local perspectives and a steer on priorities for larger grants and targeted initiative decisions which come before the UK Board. Members will have
![William Bowen Stephens was a resident of Narberth and his letters describe his experiences on the frontline. William Bowen Stephens was a resident of Narberth and his letters describe his experiences on the frontline.](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/lettersfromthefront.jpg.webp?itok=BUFuEkyo)
William Bowen Stephens was a resident of Narberth and his letters describe his experiences on the frontline.
News
Letters from the Front - Lottery Funding for Narberth Museum
As a result of a £9,200 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund through their First World War: Then and Now programme, Narberth Museum will research the letters of William Bowen Stephens who shared his experiences on the frontline with friends and family at home in west Wales as part of the Letters
![Royal Welsh Fusiliers during the First World War Royal Welsh Fusiliers during the First World War](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/rwfusiliers.jpg.webp?itok=JQfWC4tG)
Royal Welsh Fusiliers during the First World War
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Local Heroes
As a week of reflection on the century since the start of the First World War draws to a close, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is pleased to announce a £10,000 grant to support the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Regimental Museum, Caernarfon, explore the role of the regiment in the First World War. The
![Citizens Theatre, Glasgow proposed new facade for its redevelopment Citizens Theatre, Glasgow proposed new facade for its redevelopment](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/pressnews/citizenstheatre.jpg.webp?itok=10POcTez)
News
HLF helps lift the curtain on Citizens Theatre redevelopment
Originally opened in 1878 as a variety theatre in Glasgow’s Gorbals, the Citz, as it is affectionately known, became home to the Citizens Theatre Company in 1945, launching the careers of actors such as Stanley Baxter, Bill Paterson, Rupert Everett, Gary Oldman, Helen Baxendale, Alan Rickman and