England, North: delegated decisions March 2025
Grant changes
Lower Kirkgate Townscape Heritage Initiative
Applicant: Leeds City Council
Decision: Award change in grant percentage from 62.11% to 69.26%
Purchase and Restoration of Ripley Town Hall
Applicant: Ripley Star Club Limited
Decision: Award grant increase of £75,000 to make a total grant of £250,000
National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000
#HP Sir Moses Montefiore Memorial Synagogue, Grimsby
Applicant: Grimsby Hebrew Congregation
Project description: To improve the condition of the building and engage more with the local community. This will involve surveying for and then hosting events and activities the area is lacking but would benefit from, as well as raising awareness of the area’s Jewish heritage.
Decision: Award grant of £41,450 (85%)
Remembering the WHEELIE Good Times - A BeSPOKE Heritage of GY95 BMX and Urban Sports
Applicant: GY95
Project description: To celebrate the group’s 30th anniversary while engaging disadvantaged young people with members through the creation of a digital archive, oral histories, a documentary film, and an anniversary book, which will all showcase the cultural history of urban sports.
Decision: Award grant of £104,970 (100%)
Clayton-le-Moors Heritage Animation and Book Project
Applicant: Hyndburn Leisure
Project description: To build on the previous Clayton-le-Moors Heritage Project and permanent exhibition with the completion of a website, the research and production of a local history book in-house, an accessible animated film, and learning materials for local schools and care homes.
Decision: Award grant of £10,000 (100%)
Bridging Cultures: A parallel journey of teenage life in the UK and Somaliland
Applicant: Lindley Educational Trust Limited
Project description: To foster pride in Somali heritage by working with women and girls of Somali heritage to research, write and produce a play exploring the parallels of growing up in the UK and Somaliland, with interviews of community elders and learning traditional dance, costume and set craft.
Decision: Award grant of £27,980 (100%)
Lumb Bank - A Storied House in a Heritage Landscape
Applicant: Arvon Foundation Limited (The)
Project description: To secure the future of the home of poet Ted Hughes, and boost engagement with the buildings landscape, literary, industrial and social heritage through the development of a conservation management plan and events, informed by community engagement and built into a five-year business plan.
Decision: Award grant of £188,990 (94%)
Jarrow Archaeological Mission (JAM) - Phase 1
Applicant: Groundwork South and North Tyneside Ltd
Project description: To run a pilot excavation in Jarrow using the mapping and land surveys of St. Paul’s monastery, to engage disadvantaged members of the community and volunteers in vocational workshops, offer Level 3 Certificates in Archaeology, and save the areas material history from loss.
Decision: Award grant of £249,188 (97%)
A Towering Presence
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of All Saints, Hessle
Project description: To restore the church tower and engage the community through intergenerational heritage projects involving film, art, dance, and public performances, supported by research and participation from local schools, care homes, and other community spaces.
Decision: Award grant of £244,576 (53%)
The Music Identity Project
Applicant: Ngamaba community path
Project description: To preserve and celebrate the musical heritage of Salford's Congolese, Angolan, and Congo Brazzaville communities through oral history recordings, workshops, and intergenerational activities, culminating in a live performance and heritage DVD to foster pride and understanding across generations and communities.
Decision: Reject
Norse Stars
Applicant: Windermere Science Festivals CIC
Project description: To work with their youth group, local enthusiasts, and heritage partners to revive local Viking heritage through performances, art, games, and feasts to engage the community, while exploring the Furness Viking hoard and its historical significance.
Decision: Reject
Living in the Moment with Dorothy Wordsworth and Contemporaries
Applicant: Equal Arts Limited
Project description: To improve the wellbeing of older people and those living with dementia by creatively exploring the literary heritage of Dorothy Wordsworth and the Collinson collection of 19th-century watercolours, developing sensory materials to enhance access and broaden engagement with them.
Decision: Reject
Building Resilience: Sustaining Macclesfield's Silk Heritage to protect, share and enjoy stories of working lives
Applicant: The Silk Heritage Trust
Project description: To transform Paradise Mill and the Silk Museum into a hub of economic activity, skills development, and heritage participation for the community, ensuring financial resilience, organszational development, and audience engagement to preserve Macclesfield's silk heritage.
Decision: Award grant of £227,223 (82%)
Saddleworth Rising: A New Chapter
Applicant: Saddleworth Museum
Project description: To complete repairs and improve the sustainability of the museum and kitchen for community use, strengthen communications, diversify the committee, involve community volunteers and stakeholders in planning, and employ new staff.
Decision: Reject
Hidden Heritage Community grants Project
Applicant: Merseyside Play Action Council
Project description: To support local voluntary organisations with small grants for projects engaging children and young people, fostering new interests and skills, with a focus on inclusivity for those facing barriers, while building a network through stakeholder-led Community of Practice groups.
Decision: Reject
'KFOR and Kosovo +25' in Greater Manchester
Applicant: HEARTSTONE
Project description: To show a 100-picture photodocumentary exhibition across Manchester, Bolton, and Rochdale with diverse speakers, add oral histories, involve educational institutions, promote through regional networks, and train young people to create portable installations for community engagement.
Decision: Award grant of £56,400 (51%)
Accessing Our Hidden History - The Disabled People's Archive
Applicant: Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People
Project description: To celebrate the Coalition’s 40th anniversary by launching the newly catalogued Disabled People’s Archive, promoting accessibility and inclusion through events, workshops, training sessions, and community outreach, celebrating the heritage of the Disabled People’s Movement.
Decision: Reject
Delia Derbyshire Day 10th anniversary project
Applicant: Delia Derbyshire Day
Project description: To celebrate the organisation’s 10th anniversary with consultancy, training, events, and online content, while producing multimedia outputs, and involving younger volunteers in presenting Delia Derbyshire Day 2025 in Manchester.
Decision: Award grant of £50,651 (98%)
The History of Castleford and District Amateur Rugby League
Applicant: Tigers Trust
Project description: To document the history of Amateur Rugby League in Castleford from the late 1890s to present, involving community clubs and volunteers to create mini museums, host training workshops for digitisation and oral history recording, and reconnect past players and supporters.
Decision: Reject
Children's Capital of Culture - You're Not from New York City, You're from Rov'Rum
Applicant: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Project description: To make Rotherham the world’s first Children's Capital of Culture, with 25 young Heritage Producers working to preserve the town's heritage, create a digital archive of memories, and collaborate on a creative commission to explore identity and community.
Decision: Award grant of £245,927 (34%)
Time and Toil
Applicant: Boldon Colliery Heritage Group
Project description: To create a monument honouring the community's mining and military legacy, facilitating remembrance, reflection, and connection through heritage exploration and creative activities.
Decision: Reject
The Role of Carnforth Library - From 1936 to 2026 and Beyond
Applicant: Global Link (Lancaster)
Project description: To celebrate Carnforth Library's 90th anniversary by involving local residents of diverse ages, with recently settled refugees and asylum seekers, to reflect on the library's heritage and evolving role in the community through archival research, activities, and shaping its future role in the community.
Decision: Award grant of £68,326 (100%)
Horse + Bamboo Museum and Archive - Reminding and Renewal.
Applicant: Littleworld Ltd
Project description: To create a museum and archive retelling the history of the Horse + Bamboo collective and sharing its position in British theatre heritage, aiming to engage local young people interested in performing arts, and academics.
Decision: Reject
Honoring Strength, Celebrating Heritage
Applicant: Breast Cancer Support Squad
Project description: To record and preserve the stories of Black women affected by breast cancer, and their families, and carers, through oral histories, creative arts workshops, and intergenerational events, culminating in public exhibitions and awareness campaigns to promote early detection and better health outcomes.
Decision: Reject
Parson House Heritage Project
Applicant: Parson House Outdoor Pursuits Centre
Project description: To explore and interpret the heritage of its 200-year-old location and buildings, collect stories and memories from past users, understand changes in the landscape and climate, and explain countryside skills to engage visitors with the moorlands and wider countryside.
Decision: Reject
“Yanzi Heritage Alive - Empowering At Risk Youth Through Culture, Alphabets & Art" Our Story, Our Future
Applicant: SafeHaven Youth CIC
Project description: To preserve and celebrate the Yanzi diaspora by teaching traditional values, fostering literacy and cultural identity, and connecting generations to strengthen mental health, and create opportunities.
Decision: Reject
A Grand Revival - Embracing Heritage and shaping the future of The Grand, Doncaster
Applicant: Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust
Project description: To create a Masterplan for restoring Doncaster's Grand Theatre into a sustainable cultural and heritage hub, focusing on community engagement, economic growth, and preserving its legacy through comprehensive planning, public engagement, technical assessments, and innovative programming.
Decision: Reject
On Yer Bike: Bradford's Two Wheel Cultures
Applicant: Capital of Cycling
Project description: To celebrate and preserve Bradford's cycling heritage by leveraging City of Culture 2025, documenting diverse cycling stories, creating a digital archive, producing a podcast, hosting public events, and developing a communications strategy to strengthen the heritage focus of future initiatives.
Decision: Reject
An Edible Family in a Mobile Home - Housing a Legacy
Applicant: Daily Life Ltd
Project description: To explore the heritage and impact of post-war social housing on family life through untold stories, present Bobby Baker's 1976 art installation at the Whitworth Art Gallery, run community workshops, create an accessible film, and donate the prefab to a creative and educational organisation.
Decision: Reject
Horden - 125 years and beyond
Applicant: Creative Youth Opportunities CIC
Project description: To celebrate Horden’s 125th anniversary by launching a heritage project to preserve local history, connect young people with the village's evolution, and instil pride and understanding in them as future custodians.
Decision: Reject
"Our Story, Our Song" - Restoration of St Nicholas Church Tower to ensure safe access to this hugely significant Church and much-loved community building.
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of St Nicholas, Guisborough
Project description: To complete essential repairs to St Nicholas Church Tower, ensuring safe access, and transforming the church into a community facility which showcases historical artifacts, and share musical heritage through school outreach programs.
Decision: Reject
Cultural Bridges: 700 Years of Anglo-Portuguese Heritage in the North East
Applicant: Culture Healing Communities CIC
Project description: To celebrate seven centuries of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance and Portuguese heritage in the Northeast through a community festival, showcasing Portuguese art, culture, and heritage.
Decision: Reject
We Are 25: TBTL PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE - celebrating the cultural impact of TBTL with and for communities across Cumbria
Applicant: Cumbria Theatre Trust
Project description: To celebrate the Theatre’s 25th anniversary with an exhibition of its history, involving young people in creating performances and digital installations to preserve its legacy.
Decision: Reject
Unearthing Legacies; Digging into the Past to Feed the Future
Applicant: Earth Moves Cooperative Limited
Project description: To restore and preserve Wallasey Market Gardens' natural and cultural heritage by involving people in sustainable farming, climate resilience, land restoration and heritage preservation activities on site.
Decision: Reject
Stomping Ground
Applicant: Hand Of LTD
Project description: To increase around 60 disadvantaged children from North Tyneside and Northumberland’s engagement with heritage through creative activities and immersive experiences, while helping them reflect on their region's impact on their lives and aspirations.
Decision: Reject