HLF invests money raised by National Lottery players in heritage in every corner of the United Kingdom.

With a strong local presence across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland we have a proven track record of making decisions locally — over 90% are taken by local decision-makers.

[quote]“We firmly believe that getting local people and communities involved in how funding is invested is vital to ensuring it has the greatest impact.”[/quote]

We firmly believe that getting local people and communities involved in how funding, including from the National Lottery, is invested is vital to ensuring it has the greatest impact. Our strategy is designed to be flexible to local needs which is why our approach is to ensure that about half of the money we have to invest is made available locally. The remainder is used for investment in individual large projects or strategic initiatives aimed at tackling specific challenges faced by the heritage sector.  

We also recognise that broader agendas to devolve decision-making and greater control offer opportunities to increase our responsiveness to local priorities. 

This briefing sets out our approach and also how we intend to build on our track record of effective investment by building our relationships with decision-makers and communities in future.