Using money raised by National Lottery players, we distribute grants from £10,000 to £10million to support projects across the UK that connect people and communities to their heritage.

We also distribute heritage funding on behalf of the UK and devolved governments.

Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. Understanding, valuing and sharing our heritage brings people together, inspires pride in place and supports local economies.

Since we were established in 1994, we have awarded £9.2billion of National Lottery and other funding to more than 52,000 projects across the UK.

In addition, we provide leadership and support across the heritage sector and advocate for heritage.

Find out how to apply for funding

The power of heritage

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.

We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build connection to the past.

National Lottery funding

Our work is made possible thanks to the support of National Lottery players. With every purchase of a ticket, National Lottery players raise money for good causes. We are one of 12 distributors of this funding.

We award 20% of the Good Causes income raised by National Lottery players.

Since 1994, the National Lottery has raised £50bn for good causes. 

Organisation

We have 11 offices across the UK with a head office in London. Most of our decisions are made locally, by people who live and work in the communities we fund.

We collaborate with a wide range of statutory bodies, such as English Heritage and the Environment Agency, as well as other National Lottery distributors.

We are a non-departmental public body accountable to Parliament via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Our decisions about individual applications and policies are entirely independent of the government.

Our history

The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) is our sister organisation. Launched by the National Heritage Act in 1980, it distributes grant in aid/government funding to UK heritage at risk of loss.

We were set up in 1994 as the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), when the NHMF and its trustees were appointed distributor of the heritage share of the National Lottery’s funds for good causes. In 2019 we became The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund is our legal body for the administration and supervision of all funds vested in us.

More about the history of NHMF

Find out more

We’ve published the first three-year delivery plan for our 10-year strategy, Heritage 2033. It includes details about our budgets and priorities, and changes to our National Lottery funding programmes.