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

Morecambe's D Day and VE Day memories

Applicant: Morecambe Heritage

Project description: To engage young people in recording and sharing the stories of Second World War veterans through filmed interviews and a public exhibition, celebrating the 80th anniversaries of D-Day and VE Day while educating and connecting diverse audiences in Morecambe and beyond.

Decision: Award grant of £26,010 (98%)

New Sisterhood

Applicant: Tees Women Poets

Project description: New Sisterhood is a poetry and performance project that engages women in Teesside to explore and celebrate the region’s history of women’s rights activism through archival research, creative writing and community connection.

Decision: Award grant of £10,518 (100%)

The Story of Jessie Gavin: Celebrating a Local LGBTQ+ Icon and Pioneer

Applicant: Depth Training CIC

Project description: To celebrate the life of pioneering artist Jessie Gavin through an original play staged at heritage sites across Wirral, using inclusive storytelling to honour local history, promote diversity, and inspire greater community pride and awareness.

Decision: Award grant of £36,914 (100%)

The working title for the completed project is currently ' LCR Walking and Cycling Ringway', to echo the name of its sister project in Greater Manchester, 'The GM Ringway'. However, this may change after this R&D process has concluded

Applicant: CPRE Lancashire, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester

Project description: To deliver a six-month research and development phase to assess the feasibility of creating a Liverpool City Region Walking and Cycling Ringway, aiming to open up the landscape in an inclusive, sustainable way ahead of CPRE’s 100th anniversary.

Decision: Award grant of £37,080 (100%)

The Sensational Alzana's and other Daredevils!

Applicant: Voluntary Action Rotherham

Project description: To celebrate Maltby’s unique cultural heritage by preserving the legacy of the Alzana family through circus arts, oral histories and creative workshops, inspiring community pride, intergenerational connection, and lasting cultural engagement.

Decision: Award grant of £67,131 (87%)

Fashion and Identity Oral History Project

Applicant: PRECIOUS GEMS

Project description: To explore and celebrate the heritage of East African women through traditional fashion, using clothing as a lens to preserve culture, express identity and promote community cohesion among people of African heritage.

Decision: Award grant of £70,475 (100%)

Voices of Resilience: Preserving Persian Heritage through Dance, Music, and Digital Media

Applicant: Pars Community

Project description: To preserve and celebrate Persian heritage in the UK through dedicated dance and music academies, a digital archive and cultural events, empowering the Iranian diaspora and promoting intergenerational learning, pride and intercultural understanding.

Decision: Award grant of £104,000 (57%)

Common Threads

Applicant: The Bare Project Ltd

Project description: Common Threads will be a year-round programme of weaving activities culminating in a September festival in Sheffield, celebrating global textile crafts, protecting heritage weaving practices and fostering cross-cultural exchange through community workshops and collaborations.

Decision: Award grant of £99,439 (65%)

Roots in the River

Applicant: The Aire Rivers Trust

Project description: To connect people with the natural and industrial heritage of the River Worth, Fagley Beck and other local waterways through walks, talks and hands-on volunteering, with a focus on engaging under-served communities to support long-term river restoration.

Decision: Award grant of £247,028 (70%)

'Little Moscow' remembered – our history, our heritage

Applicant: Chopwell Community Association

Project description: To commemorate the 1925 Chopwell Lockout by working with local groups to create performances, exhibitions, oral histories and educational activities that celebrate community resilience, preserve political heritage and make its legacy accessible and relevant for all generations.

Decision: Award grant of £27,244 (92%)

Forewarned is Forearmed: Royal Observer Corps 100

Applicant: The English Heritage Trust

Project description: To mark the 100th anniversary of the Royal Observer Corps by preserving volunteer testimonies, activating York’s Cold War bunker through community co-creation and sharing its legacy via interactive tours, digital resources and public events.

Decision: Award grant of £84,000 (84%)

Leading Change for Common Land

Applicant: Foundation for Common Land

Project description: To strengthen the Foundation for Common Land’s ability to protect and promote the natural, cultural and archaeological heritage of England’s Common Land by building organisational resilience, developing sustainable strategies and engaging new audiences at a national scale.

Decision: Award grant of £236,091 (90%)

St Michael's Presbytery: Adapting the Past, Engaging the Future

Applicant: Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle

Project description: To assess the feasibility of redeveloping St Michael’s Presbytery into a vibrant, community-focused space that preserves its heritage, addresses local needs and lays the foundation for wider regeneration in Elswick through inclusive planning and strategic reuse.

Decision: Award grant of £15,198 (26%)

Unearthing Westoe's Colliery – A Multisensory Exploration of Local Heritage by Young Autistic People

Applicant: AutismAble CIC

Project description: To empower young autistic people to explore and share the history of Westoe’s colliery through creative workshops, a multisensory soundwalk and placemarkers, fostering inclusion, environmental awareness and community connection while preserving South Tyneside’s industrial heritage.

Decision: Award grant of £148,615 (97%)

Jaguza – Black Migrant Women Stories

Applicant: Women and Digital Inclusion (WODIN)

Project description: To create an oral history archive capturing how first- and second-generation Black women in Merseyside navigate belonging, identity and heritage, while addressing a gap in the historical record and training volunteers in oral history methods.

Decision: Reject

This is Us. Tracing Manchester's Histories

Project description: To create an inclusive digital platform and collaborative programme to uncover under-served histories, amplify diverse voices and redefine Manchester’s identity through community-led storytelling, dialogue and digital innovation.

Applicant: Manchester Histories

Decision: Award grant of £245,181 (71%)

It's Queer Up 'Ere – Exploring & Preserving Queer Cumbria, Past & Present

Applicant: Proud and Diverse Cumbria CIC

Project descriptions: To uncover and celebrate hidden queer histories from Cumbria through creative, youth-led workshops and events, resulting in the first Queer Cumbria Heritage Collection that connects past stories with contemporary queer culture and preserves them for future generations.

Decision: Reject

Writing on the Wall: 25 Years of Creating Change Through the Power of Words

Applicant: Writing on the Wall Limited

Project description: To preserve and celebrate the 25-year legacy of WoW, a creative platform for working-class writers and artists, by showcasing its contribution to social justice, diversity and local culture through an archive and ongoing community-focused artistic initiatives.

Decision: Reject

Blackburn's South Asian heritage: past, present, and future.

Applicant: Youth Action

Project description: To research, preserve and celebrate Blackburn’s South Asian heritage over the past 70 years, focusing on key themes like migration, food, fashion and business, while empowering young people to take pride in their identity through intergenerational collaboration.

Decision: Award grant of £123,865 (100%)

SEE MY WORLD 25 – 27

Applicant: Big People Community CIC

Project description: To celebrate and preserve Pan-African heritage in Manchester through events, workshops and an online archive, marking the 80th anniversary of the 1945 Pan-African Congress and empowering future generations to connect with their cultural legacy.

Decision: Award grant of £190,077 (97%)

The Courtyard: Community, Sustainability and Access

Applicant: Harewood House Trust Limited

Project description: To enhance The Courtyard at Harewood by improving its café and visitor spaces, increasing financial sustainability and providing a more inclusive, accessible experience while supporting the wider South Garden redevelopment and Harewood’s vision for engaging diverse audiences.

Decision: Reject

Charting a Future for HMS Bronington

Applicant: HMS Bronington Preservation Trust Ltd

Project description: To evaluate the recovery and restoration options for HMS Bronington, strengthening the HMS Bronington Trust’s capacity, governance and community engagement to preserve the ship as an accessible, educational and living artefact, highlighting Cold War stories and British technological advancements.

Decision: Reject

50 Years of LGBTQ+ Community Activism in Greater Manchester

Applicant: LGBT Foundation LTD

Project description: To bring Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ history to life by gathering stories, archival materials and reflections on local activism from 1975 onwards, creating a platform for under-served heritage and empowering future LGBTQ+ community activism.

Decision: Award grant of £161,419 (98%)

Judges' Lodgings 400 – Voices from our Community

Applicant: Lancashire County Council

Project description: To mark Judges’ Lodgings’ 400th anniversary by involving local people in refreshed displays, events and heritage repairs. It will highlight working-class and servant histories, making the museum more inclusive and relevant.

Decision: Award grant of £88,969 (98%)

Reimagining the Classics: A First Mancunian Mozart

Applicant: Streetwise Opera

Project description: To uncover and celebrate the forgotten heritage of Manchester’s first local production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte by reviving lost stories and crafts, amplifying marginalised voices including those with lived experience of homelessness and sharing this work through performance, exhibition and a lasting digital resource.

Decision: Reject

Nature for all starts at Three Hagges Woodmeadow

Applicant: Plantlife International – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity

Project description: To protect North Yorkshire’s at-risk natural heritage by restoring biodiversity and improving access to nature, through targeted conservation work and inclusive opportunities for local communities to engage in nature recovery.

Decision: Reject

Sycamore Gap – a place to connect

Applicant: National Trust

Project description: To honour the legacy of Sycamore Gap by creating an accessible archive, inspiring young people to engage with natural heritage, and sharing the ongoing story of its seedlings, the Trees of Hope.

Decision: Reject

DNA Heritage Project

Applicant: Melt Dance CIC

Project description: The DNA Heritage Project aims to engage young people from Knowsley, Wirral and Liverpool with their local cultural heritage through the arts, empowering them to explore history creatively while promoting inclusivity and inspiring community pride and positive social change.

Decision: Reject

Celebrating diversity in Middlesbrough

Applicant: Middlesbrough Mela CIC

Project description: To strengthen community cohesion in Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley by celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Mela festival through expanded, inclusive programming and an exhibition that highlights its cultural significance and legacy.

Decision: Reject

Tales on the Walls: The Dukesfield Murals

Applicant: Hazlehurst Craft Studios CIC

Project description: To celebrate the completion of community-inspired murals in Runcorn’s Dukesfield through a series of creative events and a festival-style celebration, honouring local heritage, supporting local artists and attracting visitors to the area.

Decision: Reject

Like Trees in the Mangrove

Applicant: Circle Of CIC

Project description: To share and explore Caribbean culture within the context of migration to Greater Manchester while developing skills in researching and archiving social history to preserve the experiences of the Caribbean diaspora for future generations.

Decision: Reject

Salters Lane North Allotment Road to the Future

Applicant: Salters Lane North Allotments Association

Project description: To improve access to Salters Lane Allotment in Darlington by repairing the entrance road and car park, ensuring safer, more inclusive use for long-term tenants and enabling future plans for a disabled-access plot.

Decision: Reject

WE ARE CROSBY: A Heritage Spectacular

Applicant: Great Crosby Catholic Primary School

Project description: To engage students and the wider community in celebrating Sefton’s heritage through the creation of an interactive mural, a digital and physical history trail and a student-led heritage film, fostering local pride and intergenerational connection.

Decision: Reject

Cultural weddings ceremonies oral history project

Applicant: COMMUNITY SUPPORT CENTRE

Project description: To capture and document the cultural wedding traditions of the Sudanese, Togolese and Cameroonian communities in Salford through 15 oral history interviews, creating a documentary that explores the evolution of these ceremonies from the past to the present, with a focus on youth engagement and learning.

Decision: Reject

Stepney Western: celebrating 30 years of community horse riding in the North East

Applicant: Stepney Bank Stables LTD

Project description: To celebrate over 30 years of Stepney Bank Stables’ heritage through an immersive exhibition for 8-18-year-olds, preserving the tradition of horse riding in the Northeast and fostering pride, awareness and community connection with local history.

Decision: Reject

Exploring the Rural & Industrial Landscape of Storrs Valley

Applicant: Friends of Stoneface Creative

Project description: To explore Storrs Valley’s industrial heritage, focusing on traditional skills and to offer both hands-on learning and research opportunities to explore these crafts, preserving and passing down knowledge for future generations of tradespeople while connecting the community with its rich rural and industrial history.

Decision: Reject

Sts. Mary & Everilda Restoration Phase 3

Applicant: St. Mary and St. Everilda Restoration

Project description: This Phase 3 project will re-roof the chapel’s transepts and repair water-damaged walls and columns, completing the restoration of this Grade I listed venue.

Decision: Reject

Goole Bicentenery: All Aboard Goole

Applicant: East Riding Of Yorkshire Council

Project description: To celebrate the town’s heritage, animate public spaces and build local pride. A diverse programme of events and activities will explore Goole’s past, present and future, highlighting shared identity, growing the local economy and leaving a legacy of skills, research and volunteering.

Decision: Reject