National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000

Bermondsey and Rotherhithe: The sounds of its story!

Applicant: Cherry Gardens Tenants & Residents Association

Project description: To research the social history of music in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe and share local heritage with the wider community. To train volunteers in archival skills, explore historical collections in the area and use the findings to develop a narrated musical performance and a 10-panel exhibition. To run community activities such as history talks, digitise and display archival materials with the Southwark History Library and produce an online documentary. 

Decision: Award grant of £11,000 (51%)  

The Bees and the Hazel Trees

Applicant: Tidal Tales Collective CIC

Project description: To teach traditional craft and dance skills, run creative workshops for local families and share the project outcomes with community venues. To deliver training in Morris dancing, basket making, bee skep making and bow making at Ruskin Mill College and lead workshops to teach crafting, dancing, storytelling and singing. To offer free or low‑cost sessions for families with young children, produce short films for the CIC’s website and create a commemorative book for participating venues.

Decision: Reject

Living Heritage: Preserving Traditional Knowledge Through Community Connection

Applicant: Living Vital

Project description: To preserve traditional growing and woodworking skills, support local biodiversity and engage under-served communities through practical heritage activities. To run weekly growing sessions and workshops on plant cultivation, woodworking and intercultural food preservation. To recruit participants through local networks and partner referrals, train volunteers in digital documentation and diffuse workshop contents on social media and a dedicated website. 

Decision: Award grant of £27,500 (89%)  

Bright Living Roots

Applicant: Brightmunity

Project description: To record and celebrate the living heritage of African and Caribbean communities in Brixton. To teach oral history, interviewing and digital recording skills to 15 young participants, support them to gather at least 20 interviews with local elders and run monthly intergenerational workshops featuring storytelling, cooking, music and art. To produce audio clips, short films, photos and written stories, edit and archive the recordings and create a digital archive. To present the outcomes in a free exhibition at the Brixton Tate Library curated by the young participants.

Decision: Reject

Preserving St Lawrence for the future

Applicant: St Lawrence Didmarton

Project description: To repair the church clock and bell, prevent further damage to the building and involve the community in improving the churchyard. To restore the clock dial and dialworks, repoint the surrounds and repair the bell fixings, with additional off site bell work if needed. To run community activities such as planting bulbs and wildflower seeds and to hold an open day to share the project outcomes. 

Decision: Award grant of £31,760 (86%)

St Oswald's Church Project Planning: To prepare for a Sustainable Future at St Oswald's Church: Protecting Worship, Heritage, and Community in Coney Hill

Applicant: St Oswald with St Aldate

Project description: To plan future repair phases, safeguard the church building and secure the expertise and funding needed for long-term conservation. To get specialist advice on issues such as plaster decay, repointing, door repairs, landscaping and improvements to heating and lighting, and to commission surveys for bat conservation and asbestos safety. To develop a cost plan with a Quantity Surveyor, design sustainable systems with an M&E consultant and prepare applications for List B consent and Faculty approval. To run regular project meetings and fundraising activity to support future capital works and maintain community involvement.

Decision: Award grant of £38,784 (100%)

"Preserving Afghan Musical Heritage in Exile"

Applicant: Afghan Association of London (Harrow)

Project description: To record the living heritage of traditional Afghan music, address the risks facing Afghan musical traditions and reconnect UK based Afghan communities with this heritage. To recruit a part time coordinator, train 12 young volunteers in oral history skills, film 10 oral histories with musicians and elders and create a digital archive for Headstone Manor Museum. To run six music workshops for young people, deliver four women’s story circles on cultural storytelling and host a final showcase event. 

Decision: Award grant of £48,800 (100%)

LGBTQ+ Voices | The past, present and future

Applicant: Health Equality and Rights Organisation

Project description: To document and share the heritage of LGBTQ+ health activism in London. To recruit project staff, conduct research with charities and community groups, gather 20 oral histories and produce short documentary films and social media videos. To build a website and digital archive, install listening booths in community spaces and run four workshops for over 100 LGBTQ+ participants to explore activism and practical advocacy skills. To co‑create a Health Activism Toolkit and address the lack of documentation surrounding these movements.

Decision: Reject

Portsmouth Black Stories

Applicant: Portsmouth Black History Group

Project description: To collect and preserve the memories of older black residents in Portsmouth, train volunteers in oral history skills and share this heritage with local communities. To recruit an Oral History Manager and at least 10 volunteers, record and transcribe interviews with at least 15 people and work with Key Stage 3 pupils. To create pop‑up exhibitions, deliver local talks and publish selected materials online. To align the project with the work of local institutions, such as the Portsmouth Museum’s Centenary exhibition. 

Decision: Award grant of £68,645 (90%)

A Sustainable Heritage for Christ Church Reading

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Christ Church, Reading

Project description: To address issues identified in recent five-yearly reports and ensure usability for the church’s congregation and local residents. To install a new heating system with a three‑phase electrical supply in the church building, carry out roof repairs and update the Parochial Church Council’s webpage and social media. 

Decision: Award grant of £69,808 (82%)

Making the most of Lustleigh's Old Vestry

Applicant: The Lustleigh Society

Project description: To restore and upgrade the Grade II listed Old Vestry building and increase local access to heritage, to create a community heritage centre and expand space for archives, exhibitions and learning. To improve the building through repairs, heating and glazing upgrades and to convert rooms for gallery and education use. To recruit a part‑time Project Officer to lead engagement activities, run study days, support volunteers and deliver events such as the Cecil Torr weekend. 

Decision: Reject

Fishpond Wood Pathway Project

Applicant: London Borough of Merton

Project description: To improve access to Fishpond Woods, install a new raised walkway and update on‑site information for visitors. To build a mixed pathway of aggregate sections and recycled‑plastic boardwalks, erect new information boards with QR links and commission an ecologist to survey ground flora and update the site’s management plan.

Decision: Award grant of £99,000 (57%)

Creating an archive for the invisible autistic community

Applicant: Flute Theatre

Project description: To document the heritage of Flute Theatre’s practice and address under-served neurodivergent heritage. To recruit a co-ordinator and archival specialists, establish an Ethical Advisory Group with autistic consultants, train volunteers in oral history skills and record around 75 filmed oral histories. To build a new archival website, host a celebration event and maintain the digital outputs alongside the company’s existing site. To engage target audiences including neurodivergent people, young people and those facing educational or economic disadvantage.

Decision: Reject

My Yeovil

Applicant: Yeovil Art Space

Project description: To collect and share 100 objects and stories from Yeovil residents and create new ways for people to engage with local heritage. To run sharing sessions and workshops with schools and community groups, gather stories and photographs, and deposit material with local archives. To develop five online heritage trails, produce a public art installation, host a symposium and deliver an eight‑week exhibition with events and an accompanying booklet. To recruit project staff and freelance artists and work with local partners through a steering group.

Decision: Reject

Together for Nature – Building stronger partnerships, policies and organisational capacity to protect and regenerate our natural heritage across Oxfordshire

Applicant: Wild Oxfordshire

Project description: To build organisational resilience, expand partnerships and connect people with local natural heritage. To develop a five‑year strategic plan, design a delivery framework for the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and create guidance for groups to utilise it. To interview and survey under-served communities, and to run workshops with at least two groups. To recruit a fundraising lead, deliver internal training and improve the organisation’s digital presence through new online content and tools.

Decision: Reject

Heritage Conservation: A Resilient and Engaging Future

Applicant: The Institute of Conservation (Icon)

Project description: To train and support conservation volunteers, build new partnerships across the heritage sector and increase public engagement with Icon’s work. To recruit two staff roles, focus activity on seven volunteer groups and deliver training in public engagement alongside workshops, site visits, tours and events. To create new digital resources, offer careers guidance and placements for young people and run school visits and public sessions. To strengthen volunteer development through improved feedback systems, targeted support and initiatives to widen participation.

Decision: Award grant of £178,220 (96%)

Pathways to the Future: Adding Sustainability to Our Foundations

Applicant: Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery Limited

Project description: To deliver a two‑year organisational development programme to focus on financial and environmental sustainability. To work with a consultant and a Steering Group to review governance, assess operational models and produce business and financial plans. To embed energy‑saving measures identified in a recent audit, recruit two freelance fundraisers and strengthen income generation. In the project’s second year, to implement the chosen model, update internal systems, monitor progress and provide governance, leadership and fundraising training for staff and trustees.

Decision: Reject

Our Edible World Gallery garden project

Applicant: University of Reading

Project description: To redevelop the Museum of English Rural Life garden and to deliver capital works to include new paths, improved access, a pre‑fabricated learning building and new planting such as wildflower areas and raised beds. To refresh visitor facilities, add new interpretation on sustainability and biodiversity and extend café and event infrastructure. To run community consultation, appoint an Engagement Officer to develop programmes and volunteering and test pilot activities during and after the works. 

Decision: Reject

Friends' Voices – collecting more volunteering heritage

Applicant: Attend

Project description: To document the heritage of health and social care volunteering and preserve the memories of Friends’ Groups ahead of the NHS’s 80th anniversary. To recruit 35 volunteer interns, train them in oral history, research and digital skills and support them to create content for the Friends’ Voices website. To record 160 interviews with current and former volunteers and community leaders, upload edited oral histories and photographs online and deposit recordings with local archives and the British Library’s Web Archive. To host celebration events and deliver outreach through an Academic Liaison Consultant. 

Decision: Reject

#HP THP Heritage & Design team core staff

Applicant: Torbay Council

Project description: To provide staffing continuity for the next delivery phase of the Heritage Places initiative and to support 20 months of activity from March 2026 to October 2027. To develop educational, community and commercial partnerships, create a Heritage Construction Skills Programme and establish a local Heritage at Risk Register. To hire a full‑time Conservation and Urban Design Officer, a part‑time Historic Environment Officer and a part‑time Historic Environment Programme Coordinator.

Decision: Award grant of £234,047 (100%)

Sussex is Wild About Inclusion

Applicant: Sussex Wildlife Trust

Project description: To remove barriers that prevent people from accessing local nature, strengthen inclusion across Sussex Wildlife Trust’s work, and create new opportunities for diverse audiences to engage with nature. To recruit dedicated project staff to identify and address access issues across reserves, events and programmes and to reach ethnically diverse communities. To introduce a mobile ‘welfare wagon’ to provide facilities at under‑resourced sites and support volunteering and education activities across multiple reserves. To develop a series of traineeships and internships over three years, to include roles targeted at under-served groups.

Decision: Award grant of £242,996 (71%)

St Mary's Church – sustaining our heritage for the people of Hanwell

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Mary Hanwell
Project description: To repair the tower, strengthen the organisation and improve community access to a Grade II* listed church. To carry out remedial works such as re‑attaching unstable flint cladding, restore step‑free access and commission scoping and feasibility studies for future capital works and low‑carbon heating. To run community consultation and deliver a pilot engagement programme including workshops, hard‑hat tours and open days for schools, young people and older residents. To recruit specialist freelancers to support planning, business development and engagement and to inform a new business plan and designs for improved community facilities.

Decision: Award Grant of £244,320 (66%)

Bishopstone – the Grade 1 Church of St John the Baptist – reroofing and urgent repair to the structure of the North Transept

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishopstone and Stratford Tony, Salisbury
Project description: To repair the church building, improve its accessibility and share its history with the wider audience. To fix failing roof beams, relay the lead roof, add ventilation and replace the transept ceiling, with a view to remove the church from the Heritage at Risk Register. To produce new interpretation materials, install wildlife features, widen paths, add a ramp, refurbish the WC and run activities such as walks, tours and concerts. To showcase the improved site and renew community interest through a final celebration event.

Decision: Award grant of £248,280 (89%)

London as a Wetland City: Restoring London's freshwater habitats and climate resilience through fairer community engagement

Applicant: Zoological Society of London

Project description: To grow community participation in restoring London’s freshwater habitats, improve ecological data and create fairer access to river‑related activities. To focus on the River Crane, to co‑design an engagement plan, run taster days for young people and deliver workshops for women to build skills and confidence. To train volunteers to collect biodiversity and water‑quality data, launch a London‑wide freshwater training pathway and convene an annual forum for around 180 participants. To share learning across London’s river networks and support wider climate‑resilience and inclusion goals.

Decision: Award grant of £248,580 (96%)

'Rediscovering Tavistock Abbey' The sustainable project to open up the abbey remains to the public through conservation and repair, archaeological investigation, historical research and comprehensive interpretation with community involvement throughout

Applicant: Tavistock Town Council

Project description: To repair key remains of Tavistock Abbey, deepen understanding of the site and share its history with a wider audience. To carry out conservation works on structures such as Betsy Grimbal’s Tower and the Stillhouse. To run archaeological surveys and excavations that support new digital records and updated interpretation for local museums and learning resources. To offer volunteering opportunities, children’s archaeology events, talks, training visits and workshops for contractors and historic building owners. To align the project with regional research priorities and local planning aims.

Decision: Award grant of £249,226 (48%)

Oasis Nature Garden: Community-Led Conservation & Climate Action

Applicant: Oasis Children's Venture

Project description: To restore habitats in Oasis Nature Garden, strengthen community connection with nature and build local conservation skills. To recruit and train new staff and volunteers including people with disabilities, lead volunteer‑driven habitat work and commission ecological surveys and a programme of training workshops on species identification, habitat management and sustainable gardening. To improve ponds, meadows and woodland areas, install new rainwater and composting systems and offer regular nature days, after‑school sessions, community events and youth‑led biodiversity campaigns for local families. 

Decision: Award grant of £249,668 (59%)

Redoubt Reimagined ~ a Seafront for every Generation

Applicant: Eastbourne Borough Council

Project description: To assess the condition of Eastbourne Redoubt, strengthen public engagement with its heritage and plan for its long‑term future. To commission a full structural and conservation survey, produce new digital storytelling outputs including a 360° film and run a programme of creative activities such as school competitions, ticketed performances and a daytime festival. To develop a business plan to explore sustainable future uses, accessibility improvements and maintenance needs, alongside curriculum‑linked education resources co‑produced with schools. To deepen partnerships and align the project with wider regeneration and climate‑resilience strategies.

Decision: Reject

Lost Waterways of The Royal Parks

Applicant: The Royal Parks Limited

Project description: To understand the condition and history of the water systems in Richmond, Greenwich and Bushy Parks, identify needed conservation work and explore future uses for these structures. To carry out geophysical surveys, laser scanning, photogrammetry and archival research and to run annual three‑week community archaeology digs to involve schools, volunteers and university students. To use the findings to shape learning resources, future interpretation and assessments of whether conduits could support water harvesting or visitor access. To investigate specific systems in each park and bring in hydrology expertise to guide long‑term planning.

Decision: Award grant of £250,000 (65%)

Roots & Rhythms: Celebrating BACO-UK Heritage

Applicant: Banyankole Community (Baco) UK

Project description: To celebrate Banyankole heritage, preserve cultural traditions at risk of loss and strengthen intergenerational learning. To host a day‑long event featuring traditional song and dance competitions, displays of cultural treasures, storytelling in Kinyankore and shared typical dishes with children, young and elderly people taking part. To involve a panel of elderly people to mentor participants and guide performances prepared across the community. To document all activities in a digital archive accessible to schools, community groups and heritage organisations.

Decision: Reject

Centenary of Lister Social Club/Chantry Centre

Applicant: The Chantry Centre

Project description: To celebrate the club’s centenary, record its heritage, capture memories from long‑standing residents and share the social impact of R.A. Lister on Dursley. To create public displays inside and outside the Chantry Centre, plan a year‑long programme of events and run themed activities exploring different aspects of the club’s history. To produce a permanent set of interpretive panels, develop internal exhibitions using items from the heritage centre and compile a book of record for local and online access. 

Decision: Reject

Bridging Cultures: Empowering Young People to Explore, Adapt and Share Heritage Safely in Modern UK Society Through Social Media and Learning

Applicant: Empower Next CIC

Project description: To explore cultural heritage through creative activities, support cultural understanding and build practical life skills for young people. To run cooking, storytelling, music and art sessions alongside online workshops, community discussions and social media‑based learning. To help young people, new immigrants and individuals with learning disabilities develop communication, integration and everyday skills through short videos and targeted sessions. To deliver awareness activities on online safety and other risks.

Decision: Reject

Pride of Place – our 1920's coastline was queer

Applicant: Art in Romney Marsh

Project description: To research and share the history of LGBTQ+ creatives on the Kent/Sussex coast during the inter‑war period, develop heritage themes with local partners and drive community engagement. To run pop‑up LGBTQ+ History Month events, guided visits, workshops and talks, create downloadable maps and collect a small set of oral histories. To extend staff hours and hire a project officer for digital work. To explore additional activities such as exhibitions and vox pops and to develop an online archive.

Decision: Reject

Tetcott Church Toilet/Kitchenette project

Applicant: Tetcott and Luffincott Parochial Church Council

Project description: To construct a new toilet and kitchenette at the church, improve basic facilities and support small‑scale community use of the site. To install new drainage and a soakaway, build a toilet to the west of the tower and fit a kitchenette inside the same building. To run engagement activities in the churchyard, such as sowing a wildflower meadow, recording wildlife and hosting community nature days.

Decision: Reject

Preserving Local Heritage: Free Photography for Fundraising and Legacy

Applicant: Laurence Cummins Photography CIC

Project description: To provide photography services to local heritage organisations, support them in generating future income and build a sustainable model for ongoing work. To deliver professional photography to around 80 groups, transfer image ownership to them and to purchase an electric van for travel. To carry out targeted outreach, create a website and an online visual archive and explore long‑term funding options in the project’s final year.

Decision: Reject

Bantu Origins: Legacy of John Blanke

Applicant: Kongolese Children's Association

Project description: To collect oral histories, explore the heritage of John Blanke and Bantu people and create public outputs that share these stories. To recruit project staff, train 10 young people in oral history and archival methods and support another 10 to gather images from major archives to use in an exhibition and a short documentary film. To host the exhibition at the Museum of Enfield and run an end‑of‑project event.

Decision: Reject

All Roads: Journeys and Generations – women as owners and custodians of everyday cultural heritage

Applicant: Jelly Leg'd Chicken Arts Centre

Project description: To document and share the under‑recorded domestic cultural traditions of women and build on the earlier All Roads project. To create women’s groups in Reading and Slough, deliver over 170 workshops, run creative activities in care homes and provide trauma informed practice training and new education resources. To record 20 oral histories and use them to produce three exhibitions with local museums, alongside school workshops and a dedicated digital resource.

Decision: Reject

Creating a wildlife corridor in the Teign Valley, Devon – a model for the future

Applicant: Ambios Ltd

Project description: To help 16 landowners create a 3.5‑mile wildlife corridor through the Teign Valley, link existing County Wildlife Sites and improve nature‑depleted land. To invest in practical measures that strengthen kestrel and cirl bunting populations, support the reintroduction of the black‑veined white butterfly and open previously private farmland for 32 outreach events. To run 10 volunteer days on wildlife surveys, tree planting and nest‑box installation, offer a 12‑month traineeship in nature recovery and work with the Devon Biological Records Centre to produce an online visual map for habitat connectivity restoration.

Decision: Reject

Hopes and Dreams

Applicant: Our Hut

Project description: To connect local schools and the wider Brandon Estate community with the estate’s public artworks. To train up to 15 volunteers to document artworks and support community activities and to deliver school workshops, family sessions, open days, walking tours, photographic workshops and film nights. To create interpretative plaques, produce exhibitions on the estate and in schools and develop community‑designed merchandise and online educational resources.

Decision: Reject

Church and Tower roof repair project

Applicant: Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee Church of Our Lady & St Joseph Hanwell

Project description: To repair the church roof, renew the drainage systems and improve the internal environment of the building to ensure community usability. To carry out targeted works on the zinc roof coverings, the dormer roofs and the church tower and to renew the concrete gutter linings and the flat‑roof perimeter details. To cleanse and repair the rainwater goods, address internal decorative damage caused by moisture and install humidity control to reduce condensation. 

Decision: Reject

Dominion Centre: A Cornerstone of the Community

Applicant: UNIVERSAL PRAYER GROUP MINISTRY

Project description: To restore the Universal Prayer Group Ministry Grade II* listed building, develop it as a community hub and create new heritage‑focused activities. To repair the facade, reinforce structural elements and restore the Art Deco frontage. To develop a community feasibility plan through outreach, surveys and pilot activities such as heritage arts workshops, intergenerational storytelling circles and community wellbeing sessions. To recruit and train new staff and volunteers to support consultation events, pilot programming and community activities. To create a digital storyboard timeline to explore the building’s history.

Decision: Reject

Save St. Mary's! Help St. Mary's to survive to serve the local community in the Chislet parish support of local life and schoolchildren

Applicant: St. Mary the Virgin Parochial Church Council

Project description: To complete repair works, stabilise the building and secure the church’s operational future. To commission professional services from architects, structural engineers and principal designers and to commission archaeological recording and a measured survey. To carry out practical works including scaffolding, restore two dormer windows, remove rotting wood, support wooden frames, repair sloping roofs and dormer louvres and fit new oak shingles to the dormers and main roof.

Decision: Reject

From Decay to Durability: The Stonework Conservation of Baily's Buildings. Repairing Blue Lias stonework and restoring historic detail to safeguard this rare industrial heritage for community use and learning

Applicant: Beckery Island Regeneration Trust

Project description: To conserve two historic industrial buildings, stabilise their facades and prepare them for future restoration and reuse. To commission a condition survey, photographing, drawing and elevation mapping, and to assess original materials for retention or reuse. To dismantle and rebuild unstable walling with salvaged stone and handmade brick, stabilise cracks, repair and repoint masonry with hot‑lime mortar, reinstate decorative brickwork and apply protective limewash or shelter coats. To engage the community through interpretation panels and open‑site days, and to implement monitoring, evaluation and a long‑term maintenance plan. 

Decision: Reject

Grant percentage increase

Holy Trinity Minchinhampton Stained-Glass Windows Restoration Project

Applicant: Minchinhampton with Box Parochial Church Council

Project description: To repair, conserve and clean all windows of the Grade I listed church. To enable the stories in the windows to be understood, to provide improved ambience and to celebrate the stories in the windows.

Decision: Award grant percentage increase from 18% to 20%