Museums, libraries and archives
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.
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.
Stories
Heritage grant helps fund Plymouth's new cultural and heritage destination
Thanks to a £14.8million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund a major new cultural and heritage venue in Plymouth, The Box, is ready to open its doors.
Dr Habib and Stephen Welsh with project participant, Urussa
Blogs
South Asian heritage: truth-telling and transformation
Dr Sadia Habib and Stephen Welsh take a look at how more UK museums are considering ways of deepening engagement with South Asian communities and heritage.
Alistair McNaught
Blogs
Making heritage websites accessible to all
When producing our new guide to online accessibility, Alistair McNaught’s research identified how heritage organisations can make their online content open to all. He tells us more.
Stories
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft: adapting in difficult times
Now open again, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft discovered new ways to engage communities and increase resilience during lockdown.
Blogs
Partners and pioneers – building back after the pandemic
Town centres are struggling – after the pandemic, innovative partnerships and investment in heritage can help them flourish again.
Stories
When the museums open up again
As heritage attractions are given the go-ahead to reopen, we spoke to six museums, which, thanks to National Lottery players, have been helped by our £50m Heritage Emergency Fund.
News
Six projects chosen for Sustainable Project of the Year
Six heritage projects across the UK have been shortlisted for The National Lottery Heritage Fund's inaugural Museums + Heritage Sustainable Project of the Year Award.
Blogs
Rejecting nostalgia for positive change
It’s fascinating that one of the TV programmes that has had the largest increases in viewers during lockdown is BBC One’s The Repair Shop.
Blogs
Independent museums can shine a light after the darkness
Second in our new Future Heritage blog series – imagining the heritage sector after coronavirus (COVID-19) – Nat Edwards suggests ways museums could work together, better.
Blogs
Reimagine, Remake, Replay: giving young women a voice in heritage
Two young women making their mark in heritage describe their experiences of a project at the Ulster Museum.
William Wordsworth's home
Stories
Places and poems for valentines
We share three historic sites loved by some of the UK’s most romantic poets this Valentine's Day.
Stories
And the winner is... we celebrate awards season
As we launch a new sustainability award, we take a look back at just a few of our award-winning heritage projects. Red carpets at the ready...