Museums, libraries and archives
![Black Cultural Archives. Credit: Kois Miah A person handles large parchment documents in an archive room, with shelves of archive boxes in the background](/sites/default/files/styles/main_image_desktop/public/media/imgs/Raleigh%20Hall%20development%20for%20Black%20Cultural%20Archives%20-%20Black%20Cultural%20Archives%202%20copy.jpg.webp?itok=dKXj4Ndc)
Through objects, collections, film, documents and oral histories they help to give us a sense of place and identity.
Thanks to National Lottery players, since 1994 we have awarded £2.4billion to 5,900 museum, library, archive and collection-based projects across the UK.
What do we support?
Our funding supports institutions large and small, including:
- national and local authority museums, libraries and archives
- historic libraries
- community archives
- institutions with heritage collections
Project ideas
Our funding could help people:
- create exciting new exhibition and learning spaces
- attract more diverse audiences
- interpret and open up acquisitions
- develop collections
For more inspiration, see the stories below or browse projects we've funded.
How to get funding
Our National Lottery Heritage Grants programme is open for applications.
Projects
Deaf Heritage
More than 150 Deaf volunteers worked to research, record and preserve the history of the Deaf community in Northern Ireland for the first time.
![Phase 2 Extension to Ware Museum Ware Museum](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/projects/ware_museum.jpg.webp?itok=PjWLu-co)
Projects
Phase 2 Extension to Ware Museum
The Ware Museum has been extended and refurbished, to allow visitors more space to explore its collections and learn about the history of Ware and the surrounding area.
Projects
People's History Museum One Site Project
The People’s History Museum in Manchester was awarded a major grant towards the expansion of the museum and consolidation into one site.
Projects
Cutting Edge Heritage - Conserving the Past for the Future
The National Coal Mining Museum for England (NCMME) led on this project to increase access to a unique coal mining collection and photographic archive.
Projects
Topsham Museum Boat Gallery
The project focused on building an extension to Topsham Museum to house four historic local boats and providing access for the public.
Projects
Revitalising Edinburgh's Royal Museum
This project helped revitalise the Royal Museum, transforming the public use of the building, while remaining sensitive to its original Victorian architecture.
Projects
Jurassic Coast Gallery
The 95-mile stretch of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast is England’s only natural World Heritage Site – at the heart of which is palaeontological gem, Kimmeridge Bay.
Projects
Riverside Museum and Glasgow Museums Resource Centre
HLF awarded its largest ever grant in Scotland for the creation of a new Riverside Museum and a second phase of the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.
Projects
Look, touch, listen and smell at the Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums
Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums enhanced sensory access across five sites, transforming the visitor experience for people with visual and hearing impairments.
Projects
From Toy Books to Bloody Sunday
The Whitworth Art Gallery has catalogued and conserved the Walter Crane archive, creating a digital archive and a children’s website.
Projects
Acquisition, interpretation and display of the John Murray Archive
Our funding enabled the preservation and promotion of the John Murray Archive, a record of a 200-year-old publishing dynasty, considered one of the most important collections of 19th century thought and achievement.
Projects
Costume through the Centuries
The National Trust led on this project to promote the Springhill Costume Collection, widely acknowledged as Ireland’s leading textile collection.