England, Midlands & East: delegated decisions July 2025
2 July
Grant increase
Swaffham: A Historic Market Town
Applicant: Breckland District Council
Project description: This aims to develop and deliver a project in Swaffham town centre, Norfolk, to transform and restore disused and dilapidated buildings into new homes, shops, work places and community spaces restoring local historic character.
Decision: Award Grant increase of £56,000 to make a total grant of £306,000 (34%)
3 July
Grant increases
Mount Zion Apostolic Church – Picturing the Past: Celebrating and Conserving Our Heritage
Applicant: Mount Zion Apostolic Church
Project description: Mount Zion Apostolic Church, in the Radford area of Nottingham proposed a programme of capital works to repair, remodel spaces and refurbish the Grade II church, which had fallen into disrepair and was now closed to the public. The church was based in the former Capitol Cinema, which dated from 1936 in an Art Deco style and was considered a rare survivor of this type.
Decision: Award Grant Increase of £198,704 to make a total grant of £3,037,471 and Agree change in grant percentage from 75% to 81%
Reawakening St. Mary Magdalene, Supporting Newark's Communities
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish of Newark-on-Trent St. Mary Magdalene with St. Leonard
Project description: St. Mary Magdalene was a Grade I listed Church next to the market square in the heart of Newark, Nottinghamshire. It was of national significance, and similar in scale and size to a small cathedral. The vision is for the Church to play a more significant role in the town, be recognised for its heritage significance, and removed from Historic England’s Heritage-at-Risk Register.
Decision: Award Grant Increase of £216,922 to make a total grant of £3,031,550 (70%)
16 July
Grant increase
Hertford Castle Greenspace Renewal
Applicant: East Hertfordshire District Council
Project description: This will deliver a varied programme of works over three years to enhance, and raise awareness of, the ecological and historic features within Hertford Castle Park and Gardens. The project would transform the site into a safer and more welcoming gateway to the historic town and increase biodiversity.
Decision: Award grant increase of £238,012 to make a total grant of £580,318 and agree change in grant percentage from 89% to 93%
17 July
National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000
St Peter's Church Community Partnership: bringing the history of our local community under one roof
Applicant: Church of St. Peter's, Hartshorne Parochial Church Council
Project description: This project involves community engagement and essential repairs to the Grade II listed church of St Peter’s, Hartshorne, near Swadlincote, Derbyshire, to ensure its structural integrity and enhance energy conservation.
Decision: Award grant of £206,743 (95%)
All Saints Culmington Church Tower Appeal
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Culmington
Project description: This project will undertake capital repairs to the tower of the Grade II* listed All Saints church in Culmington, Shropshire, involving the removal of cement rendering, repointing of stonework and re-rendering in a lime mortar. Other outputs include fixing the leadwork, internal repairs to the undercroft of the tower and its electrical rewiring.
Decision: Reject
Sandgate Meadow Park Information Boards
Applicant: Welney Residents Rec and Green Spaces Users Group (RUG)
Project description: The project looks to preserve and communicate the diverse local heritage of Sandgate Meadow Park, in Wisbech, through seven information boards to be installed around the park.
Decision: Reject
Echoes of the Slave Trade: Exploring African and Caribbean Heritage
Applicant: Wellbeing Empowered Solutions CIC
Project description: This project seeks to engage young people, people of African and Caribbean heritage, and Walsall residents with the history of the transatlantic slave trade.
Decision: Reject
Westmill Village Hall Restoration and Improvement Project
Applicant: T & M Greg Trust
Project description: This project will repair and improve the Grade II listed Westmill Village Hall near Buntingford, Hertfordshire, to enable it to serve as a successful community hub for future generations.
Decision: Reject
Elgar at the Asylum: 145 Learning Disabled Adults in Worcestershire explore the complex and hidden history of Powick Hospital
Applicant: The Monday Night Club
Project description: This project will deliver a participatory programme researching and interpreting the heritage of Powick Hospital, through the lived experience and expertise of learning-disabled participants. The hospital was previously the Worcester County Pauper and Lunatic Asylum and Elgar was appointed as the bandmaster and composer for the asylum’s patients in 1879.
Decision: Award grant of £20,650 (100%)
One hundred: 100 Time Captured
Applicant: University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity
Project description: The project aims to celebrate the 1925 anniversary of King George V’s visit to Stoke-on-Trent, when the King granted Stoke with City status and renamed the hospital as the Royal Infirmary.
Decision: Reject
Woodland Heritage Skills
Applicant: Woodland Heritage Limited
Project description: This cross-territory project across England and Wales, based near Hereford, intends to preserve traditional woodland management skills which are at risk of being lost.
Decision: Reject
Ashbourne St. Oswalds: secured in the past, securing its future
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Oswald, Ashbourne
Project description: A project to mend the roofs of the Grade I listed St. Oswald Church in Ashbourne, Derbyshire to address heritage at risk, as well as providing solar panels to reduce the Church's carbon footprint and increase organisational sustainability.
Decision: Award grant of £243,619 (74%)
Saving St. James the Great for the future
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Ocle Pychard
Project description: This project intends to complete essential repairs to the roof of the Grade II* listed Church of St. James the Great in Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire, and explore local histories of the church, school, family life, and farming through oral histories.
Decision: Reject
Castle Hill at 40: Celebrating Community, Heritage, and Inclusion
Applicant: The Cooke E-Learning Foundation
Project description: This project will deliver a programme of community-led research, oral history collection, and public engagement relating to the history of Castle Hill Country Park in Beaumont Leys, Leicester.
Decision: Award grant of £40,600 (100%)
Lilleshall Bells: Preserving a Tradition, Restored for the Future
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Lilleshall
Project description: This project intends to improve the condition of the bells of the Grade I listed St. Michael and All Angels church in Lilleshall, Shropshire and provide the local community with a better understanding of the bells' history through community bellringing sessions.
Decision: Reject
Rootless to Rooted
Applicant: YMCA Derbyshire
Project description: This project intends to improve the wellbeing of people experiencing homelessness and to help them feel a sense of belonging in Derby by documenting their heritage, along with arranging visits and workshops at local heritage sites to introduce them to local heritage.
Decision: Reject
Balsall Heath in Changing Times: 1960s to 1990s
Applicant: Balsall Heath Local History Society
Project description: Balsall Heath in Changing Times is a project exploring Balsall Heath, Birmingham, between the 1960s to 1990s through oral histories of local residents, particularly those in under-represented groups, alongside the digitisation of the Mick Turner photographic archive and engagement activities.
Decision: Award grant of £23,097 (94%)
Meriden House
Applicant: MVR Living Limited
Project description: This project will see the renovation of Grade II listed 10 Mill Street in Cannock, Staffordshire, to upgrade fire and electrical safety systems to meet the legal and regulatory requirements of leased buildings.
Decision: Reject
Stoke-on-Trent Centenary Restoration Fund for Small Heritage Assets
Applicant: Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Project description: This project seeks to celebrate the centenary of Stoke-on-Trent by improving the heritage of the cityscape by understanding the condition of, and repairing, several small monuments of significance to the city’s heritage.
Decision: Award grant of £240,252 (100%)
Looking Up and Out: conserving Ickleton's wall paintings and building inclusive connections
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Ickleton
Project Description: St Mary Magdalene Church is a Grade I Listed Building near Duxford, Cambridgeshire, this project will deliver capital repairs of the Church to address heritage at risk, together with a community outreach programme.
Decision: Award grant of £244,684 (93%)
Unlocked: Voices of Justice: Empowering Rural Youth Through Heritage
Applicant: Rural Media Charity
Project description: This project aims to share the history of crime and justice in Herefordshire and Mid Wales with young people, through exhibitions at several historical sites.
Decision: Reject
Belgrave Hall: A Living Heritage for Leicester
Applicant: Leicester Community Enterprise Services CIC
Project description: This project involves acquiring a lease of the Grade II* listed Belgrave Hall, to use as a cultural hub to collect and curate community stories, including exhibitions, digital archive and events.
Decision: Reject
Nature in Our Neighbourhoods: Empowering Rural Communities for Nature Recovery
Applicant: Cambridgeshire ACRE
Project description: This project intends to support rural parish councils to co-create community-led, financially sustainable Local Nature Recovery Plans, light-touch biodiversity monitoring framework, carry out seasonal planting days followed by habitat maintenance days, and build sustainable volunteer community conservation groups across East and South Cambridgeshire.
Decision: Reject
Untold Stories: Migration Threads that connect Dudley's diverse community
Applicant: CREART-COLLECTIVE CIC
Project description: This project aims to create ten podcast episodes to save heritage of the local Afro-Caribbean community and their experiences of migration.
Decision: Award grant of £20,100 (100%)
Windrush: The Music, The Sound, The Legacy
Applicant: Diversity Music Community 1st CIC
Project description: This project will explore the impact of the Windrush migration within Wolverhampton through a lens of the Caribbean community's contributions to the music and culture of Wolverhampton from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Decision: Award grant of £244,452 (100%)
Zimbabwean cultural Mental Health Perceptions mind change Project
Applicant: COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Project description: This Derby-based project would involve twelve workshops for elders and young people to express their views on mental health and then have facilitated discussions. The content would be produced into a digital booklet by an artist.
Decision: Reject
Let's Not Forget Chelmsford Heritage: Rooting Inclusion & Looking Forward
Applicant: Chelmsford Civic Society
Project description: This project will see the history of Chelmsford explored with under-served local communities through a range of engagement activities built around the national Heritage Open Days celebrations.
Decision: Award grant of £10,000 (95%)
Restoration of and access to historic military graves at Cranwell
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Cranwell
Project description: This project will help restore the wall and war graves to allow full access for the public and for guided tours of the military section of the churchyard of St. Andrew’s Parish Church in Cranwell, Lincolnshire.
Decision: Award grant of £17,069 (100%)
The Neighbourhood Workshop
Applicant: The Portland Inn Project CIC
Project description: The project would complete final renovations of a vacant pub, which began life as two Victorian terraced houses, for use as the Portland Inn Project CIC's new base of operations in Stoke-on-Trent.
Decision: Reject
Elizabeth Heyrick: Providing Educational Content Inspire Young People
Applicant: Elizabeth Heyrick Society
Project description: This project will deliver a multi-phase educational programme designed to engage young people across Leicestershire and Rutland with the life and legacy of Elizabeth Heyrick, a pioneering social reformer.
Decision: Reject
Golden Valley Pilgrim Way
Applicant: The Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance
Project description: This project seeks to increase the number of pilgrims and visitors to the churches along Herefordshire’s Golden Valley Pilgrim Way by offering guided and self-guided wellbeing walks.
Decision: Reject
Funding for Phase 1 to Restore St. Peter's Church, Redmile
Applicant: Parochial Church Council St Peter's Redmile
Project description: This resilience project intends to develop a package of capital works to repair heritage at risk at the Grade II* listed St. Peter's Church Redmile in Nottinghamshire.
Decision: Award grant of £32,101 (91%)
From Iron to Empire: a journey through time and landscape
Applicant: Rockingham Forest Trust
Project description: This project will undertake a range of activities to engage audiences with the varied heritage of Stanwick Lakes in Northamptonshire, exploring how an ancient farmstead evolved into a Roman villa estate, revealing the cultural and environmental changes that reshaped the lives of people in the heart of the Nene Valley. The project aims to improve understanding around the history of settlements at the site.
Decision: Award grant of £250,000 (95%)
Blo Norton Road Community Project
Applicant: South Lopham Parish Council
Project description: This project intends to develop an outdoor space on Blo Norton Road to provide a community area for the residents of South Lopham, in Breckland, Norfolk.
Decision: Reject
Afro Heritage Project
Applicant: Afro Innovation Group
Project description: This project will see heritage saved through the recording, sharing and archiving of oral histories with African elders in the Leicester community, focusing on their lived experiences of migration, settlement and belonging in the UK.
Decision: Award grant of £215,450 (99%)
Roots and Rhythms: Dance, Herbs, and Heritage from Yard to Garden
Applicant: KD Culture
Project description: The Birmingham project would highlight the history of Jamaican harvest traditions through activities and workshops through natural heritage held at Neighbourhood Futures Festival, Calthorpe Park, Eco Park and Aston Hall.
Decision: Reject
Goadby Marwood Village Hall: protecting our heritage and serving our community
Applicant: Friends of Goadby Marwood Village Hall
Project description: This project will repair the Grade II listed village hall of Goadby Harwood, Leicestershire and enhance inclusion and access through the installation of an accessible kitchen and a heritage engagement programme.
Decision: Award grant of £202,982 (77%)
Wade Street Church Facelift Project
Applicant: Wade Street Church Lichfield United Reformed and Baptist
Project description: This project will involve upgrading the access to Lichfield’s Wade Street Church, through the installation of an inclusive access ramp, new front steps, automatic glass entrance doors, updated signage and digital noticeboards.
Decision: Reject
Participating in the heritage of Dalcroze in the UK
Applicant: THE DALCROZE SOCIETY UK (INCORPORATED)
Project description: Dalcroze Eurythmics is a method of music education that teaches music through movement, dating from 1911. This Southend-based project will create an audience development and access strategy for the society’s uncatalogued collection and archive.
Decision: Award grant of £42,347 (100%)
She Moves Through Her Story: Exploring Women's Heritage Through Movement and Wellness
Applicant: TML Wellness Events CIC
Project description: This Peterborough project would explore and celebrate the heritage of women's wellness practices, especially those rooted in African, Caribbean, South Asian, and Eastern European cultures.
Decision: Reject
Waterways
Applicant: Women's Wellbeing Ltd
Project description: This project will explore the industrial heritage of Birmingham's canals and connect it with the significance of the roles that migrants have played making modern Britain.
Decision: Reject
Realising our Potential
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Great Dunmow
Project description: This project will carry out repairs to preserve the Grade I Listed St. Mary the Virgin Church of Dunmow, Essex. The creation and celebration of the church's history through new educational resources and exhibitions will engage a variety of local communities with heritage.
Decision: Award grant of £249,684 (45%)
Stonework Replacement and Mortar Repointing Project
Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of Haselor
Project description: St Mary and All Saints Church, Haselor is a Grade II* listed Norman church in Warwickshire, this project will repair the church stone walls and mortar repointing, ensuring structural integrity and enabling the church to remain open for community activities.
Decision: Award grant of £35,585 (46%)
Preserving the Brew: 150 Years of Wolverhampton's Brewing Heritage
Applicant: Your Helping Hands
Project description: This project aims to document and showcase Wolverhampton's 150-year brewing heritage through a travelling exhibition and cultural events.
Decision: Reject
Caravans, camping and kiss me quick hats
Applicant: ERM (Eastern Region Media) CIC
Project description: This Norwich-based project would explore and celebrate the cultural heritage of traditional British seaside holidays.
Decision: Reject
Highfields Heritage: People, Past & Present Institute (HH-PPP-I)
Applicant: Highfields Community Association
Project description: This resilience project would undertake an options appraisal and community consultation to develop new ways of capturing and sharing the cultural heritage of communities within Leicester’s Highfields area, at the Highfield Centre Community Hub.
Decision: Reject
Saving Sacrewell's Farmhouse and Understanding its Potential
Applicant: The William Scott Abbott Trust
Project description: This resilience project focuses on exploring the options for the future of the 18th-century Grade II listed farmhouse and surrounding features at Sacrewell Farm, near Peterborough.
Decision: Award grant of £63,787 (90%)
Legends of Legends: 20 Years of Loves Rock Legacy
Applicant: UK Legend of Legends Limited
Project description: This Birmingham project is for the 20th anniversary celebration of the formation of the musical event, UK Legends of Lovers Rock, with performances, oral histories, and an exhibition.
Decision: Reject
Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden, Hatton
Applicant: People Express
Project description: This project will transform the Hatton Jubilee Field in Hatton, South Derbyshire by creating a new nature reserve and delivering a public engagement programme related to local heritage.
Decision: Reject
Reviving Pannington Hall, a legacy of heritage and conservation
Applicant: Space for the Wild
Project description: This resilience project would undertake a range of surveys and document creation to research the history of Pannington Hall, a Grade II listed farmhouse near Ipswich, Suffolk, and inform the next steps to restore the building for use as the charity's base of operations and an educational visitor attraction to promote conservation.
Decision: Reject
Hanging Gardens of Lowestoft
Applicant: The Conservation Volunteers (TCV)
Project description: This project relates to a disused garden in the North Cliff area of Lowestoft, known nationally as the Hanging Gardens of Lowestoft in the 18th century. The project will open access to the site, restore habitats and historic features, rediscover old pleasure grounds and provide a hub for local food growing and public engagement.
Decision: Award grant of £96,075 (99%)