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
Hope Pit: showcasing the heritage of the UK’s coal mining industry
The National Coal Mining Museum for England Trust ensured Hope Pit’s position as a centre of excellence for the UK’s coal mining industry.
Projects
Saving Opie's Cornish Masterpiece
Falmouth Art Gallery has purchased John Opie’s 18th century painting The Cornish Beggar with the help of a £44,300 HLF grant.
Projects
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) has had a complete revitalisation, creating a major 21st-century attraction.
Projects
Manchester City Art Gallery Project
Manchester Art Gallery was revamped and provided with more space, better facilities and increased access.
Projects
The Pre-Raphaelite Experiment: re-interpreting the Pre-Raphaelites for 21st Century Manchester
The project aimed to engage new audiences for the Pre-Raphaelite Collection, and record their interaction with the paintings.
Projects
1944 We Were Here: African American GIs in Dorset
Sharing stories of families and the community in Dorset during 1944 as they prepared for the D-Day landings in France.
Projects
Re-telling the Story: Mappa Mundi & Chained Library exhibition
This project aimed to make both the Mappa Mundi and Chained Library accessible to a wide range of people and involve audiences in an interactive way.
Projects
Weston Park Museum restoration project in Sheffield
Our grants to Weston Park Museum are all about making Sheffield's impressive collection of archaeology, natural sciences, social history and visual art more accessible to the public.
Projects
Hidden voices: uncovering Reading's LGBT heritage
The project explored the heritage of Reading's LGBT community and created an archive of historic and recent stories to preserve them for future generations.
Projects
Personal experiences of volunteer nursing during the First World War
A nurse's wartime scrapbook has inspired this project to commemorate the valiant efforts of medical staff during the First World War.
![Archive image of the Derbyshire cricket team Archive image of the Derbyshire cricket team](/sites/default/files/styles/hlf_xlarge/public/media/east_midlands_heritage_matters_snapshot_-_proud_to_be_derbyshire.jpg.webp?itok=vD-o_4ve)
Projects
Proud to be Derbyshire – A pictorial history celebrating the heritage of Derbyshire CCC
The Cricket Derbyshire Foundation created a visual archive to promote the heritage of cricket across Derbyshire.
Projects
Ashmolean Plan
A new extension was added to the museum’s Grade I-listed Cockerell building, providing conservation and teaching facilities, and expanding education and outreach services.