Museums, libraries and archives

Museums, libraries and archives

A person handles large parchment documents in an archive room, with shelves of archive boxes in the background
Black Cultural Archives. Credit: Kois Miah
Museums, libraries and archives tell the stories of our cultural heritage.

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. See stories from projects we've funded below.

We provide grants for heritage projects from £10,000–£10million to ensure that heritage is valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.

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.

Participant as a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse in front of a green screen with an image of a First World War hospital
Participant as a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse in front of a green screen with an image of a First World War hospital

Projects

Yours Sincerely

Young people reinterpreted the changing roles of women during the First World War, through letters, films and an exhibition.

a black icon depicting ocean waves

Projects

A Day on the Beach

A group of young volunteers worked with local people to preserve the heritage of North Tyneside's beach resorts.

Image icon showing a simple outline of a tree

Projects

Rings of Time

A project devised by a group of 25 young people after the old Horse Chestnut tree in the grounds of their community centre was felled.

Handling fabrics
Handling fabrics at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Projects

Young curators in Birmingham discovered west African textiles

Students from Birmingham universities worked with Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to create an exhibition to showcase and explore the museum’s West African textile collections.

Young people in Nuneaton explored buildings in their area
Young people in Nuneaton explored buildings in their area.

Projects

Building Sights

Young people from across Nuneaton and Bedworth worked with the local charity, Mercurial Arts, the Borough Council and English Heritage, to create their own unique listing system and identify and record the buildings and sites important to them.

Exterior of Armagh County Museum

Projects

Armagh County Museum Public Access

The project helped improve access to the Grade A listed building that houses a regional museum for the County of Armagh.

A line of people smiling
The collecting panel for Fashioning Africa

Projects

Fashioning Africa

Meaningful relationships were built with local communities and diverse experts in this Collecting Cultures project, which saw new ways of working trialled and access widened.

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