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.

Dramatic performance by students at Royal Holloway College
Dramatic performance by students at Royal Holloway College

Projects

Frank went to the Front

Supplies of Horlicks to the troops and the evocative paintings of war artist Paul Nash were just two of the discoveries in this First World War centenary project.

A school party being shown around Houghton Hall, Norfolk
A school party being shown around Houghton Hall, Norfolk

Projects

From Russia with Love: The Return of the Houghton Masters

From Russia with Love was a learning programme about the Walpole Collection of masterpiece paintings at Houghton Hall, based on the highly successful exhibition, Houghton Revisited.

Project participants attending one of the intergenerational workshops
Project participants attending one of the intergenerational workshops

Projects

Back to School: Lessons to Learn

The Scottish Council on Deafness (SCOD) created a series of workshops on the educational experiences of older D/deaf people.

Children exploring an exhibition at Bury Art Museum
Children exploring an exhibition at Bury Art Museum

Projects

Cotton Threads: Bury's Industrial Links to Slavery

A local museum and archive worked together to reach wider audiences by developing an exhibition exploring the transatlantic slave trade through the papers of a Victorian cotton spinner.

Visitors observing a typewriter on display at the museum
Visitors observing a typewriter on display at the museum

Projects

Write Here, Write Now', Birmingham

The Birmingham Pen Museum has been expanded, with a new activity space to help bring its unique heritage to life for future generations.

Last Post: Remembering The First World War display
A display from the Last Post: Remembering The First World War project

Projects

Last Post: Remembering The First World War

This project focused on increasing access to First World War archival material held in The British Postal Museum and Archive.

Bristol Aerospace Centre
Concorde is displayed at the Bristol Aerospace Centre

Projects

Bristol Aerospace Centre

Providing a rare insight into the history of British aviation at Filton, the Bristol Aerospace Centre project tells the story of one of the birthplaces of aviation in Britain.

The Dylan Thomas Centre
The Dylan Thomas Centre

Projects

Dylan Thomas Exhibition

The City and County of Swansea (CCS) celebrate the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth through the redevelopment of the Dylan Thomas Centre.

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