National Lottery Heritage Grants

How to Become A Peregrine – Exploring the Legacy of JA Baker's The Peregrine

Applicant: Cabinet of Living Cinema

Project description: To engage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with the life and work of author JA Baker, run a creative workshop, produce a short film and create an exhibition with illustrated panels. To research Baker’s legacy, lead creative engagement activities and involve 30 participants in a live performance. To share the outputs through a touring exhibition, a dedicated website and the University of Essex archive.

Decision: Award grant of £10,259 (95%)

Tottenham Heritage Tapes: Windrush to Now

Applicant: Skills development training

Project description: To record and share the heritage of Black communities in Tottenham and create intergenerational connections. To train young people to collect testimonies from elderly people, family members and local leaders. To feature workshops on oral history techniques, support interviews with 20 community members and lead creative sessions using music and visual arts. To present outcomes to the public through videos, a digital archive, and an exhibition.

Decision: Reject

Deptford, Our Past Story & Learning by 25 Young Persons (In the 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries)

Applicant: Deptford–Greenwich Community Link Projects CIC

Project description: To explore and share Deptford’s maritime heritage and engage communities facing social and economic disadvantage. To focus on the Pepys Community Estate, work with young people aged 11–18 and train them to collect and research oral histories, and record interviews with residents and organise visits to historic sites. To print 500 booklets, publish a series of videos online and host a community engagement event with music, dance and storytelling.

Decision: Reject

Walton Charity's Herbologist Heritage Workshops

Applicant: Walton on Thames Charity

Project description: To preserve the endangered craft of pigment-making, pass on specialist knowledge and raise awareness of the craft. To teach traditional techniques using local plants and natural materials, build a dedicated workshop space, run sessions for 36 participants and guide them through the processes of pigment extraction and colour mixing to develop personal art projects. To present the outcomes in an exhibition, guided tours and community workshops.

Decision: Reject

History In The Making (working title)

Applicant: Culture Shift

Project description: To connect learning disabled adults with Sussex’s heritage, promote inclusion in cultural spaces and preserve at-risk craft skills. To train museum staff in disability awareness, recruit 30 participants, run museum visits to explore heritage collections and deliver workshops in puppet-making, printmaking, weaving and natural dyeing. To produce a film, organise celebration events and present the project’s outcomes at a heritage conference.

Decision: Award grant of £44,021 (100%)

Boo, Who?

Applicant: Life's a Pitch Projects LTD

Project description: To explore and celebrate LGBTQ+ football heritage and promote inclusion in football fan culture. To collect 15 oral histories, run chant-writing workshops, host pop-up sessions at Chelsea matches and deliver an education day at Stamford Bridge with players and staff. Participants to co-curate personal football objects in ‘Object Labs,’ contribute to a digital archive hosted by the National Football Museum and help test new chants at live games. To produce a legacy toolkit and a promotional film to support clubs and fan groups to adopt inclusive practices and share stories more widely.

Decision: Award grant of £45,111 (98%)

Essential Urgent Roof Repairs to Winterbourne Medieval Barn

Applicant: Winterbourne Medieval Barn Trust

Project description: To carry out essential roof repairs, engage the local community with heritage conservation and share the repair process through visual storytelling. To install scaffolding, remove and replace a damaged flitch plate, and repair adjoining timber and masonry at the 14th-century barn. To commission time-lapse photography of the works, run guided tours for volunteers, students and residents, and organise activities to educate children about local wildlife in the surrounding garden and orchard.

Decision: Award grant of £60,000 (78%)

All Saints' Milford Tower Preservation Project

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Milford on Sea

Project description: To repair the historic bell tower and use the church building as a learning resource for local schools and families. To replace damaged render, restore stonework and stained glass, install a Mansafe system for future maintenance and carry out minor lead repairs on the spire. To engage with schoolchildren, run activities focused on school subjects, organise bellringing taster sessions, concerts and talks, and create trails and guides for visitors.

Decision: Award grant of £75,022 (25%)

How a Group of Medical Misfits Changed the World

Applicant: GLADD – The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors and Dentists

Project description: To preserve the heritage of LGBTQ+ medical professionals, share their stories with wider audiences and foster progressive healthcare practices. To record 20–30 oral testimonies, digitise newsletters, photographs and campaign documents, and identify heritage items from organisations like the Albany Trust and the Beaumont Society. To promote the archive through social media, produce a podcast series and create a legacy toolkit. To have a freelance project manager and podcast specialists provide training and guidance for volunteers from the LGBTQ+ medical community to support the work.

Decision: Award grant of £83,114 (97%)

Behind the Groove Project: Documenting & Preserving the Musical & Cultural Legacy of the Windrush

Applicant: Youth Breakthrough & Development

Project description: To preserve the heritage of Windrush music culture, celebrate its influence on the London music scene, and train young people in creative and technical skills. To run radio and creative writing workshops, deliver sound system building sessions, host five music events with live DJ sets, and lead walking tours of Brixton’s musical landmarks. To involve young people to record podcast interviews with local artists and produce a documentary film to feature DJs, community leaders and residents. To display an exhibition of materials and footage at 198 Gallery, Lambeth Archives and the Black Cultural Archives.

Decision: Reject

All Saints Haggerston, a Living Heritage of Welcome

Applicant: The United Benefice of Holy Trinity with St Philips Dalston and All Saints Haggerston

Project description: To carry out urgent roof repairs, to strengthen the church’s long-term resilience and engage the local community in heritage and creative activities. To replace missing slats, repair the gutter system, commission surveys and feasibility studies, and develop concept designs for future capital works. To host workshops to explore the church’s connection to carnival and co-design liturgical kente vestments and engraved glass doors. To deliver environmental audits, access reviews and capacity-building sessions to support the church’s sustainability and role as a flexible community space.

Decision: Award grant of £111,160 (86%)

Sound Rivers Discovery Project

Applicant: Westcountry Rivers Trust

Project description: To strengthen organisational capacity, build partnerships for future restoration and engage communities with river heritage. To commission an independent consultant to assess internal systems, consult with local groups and scope opportunities for a large-scale river restoration plan. To run community engagement events about river heritage, gather baseline data on public involvement and explore green skills training and volunteering. To support alignment with existing strategies and future funding opportunities through partnerships with Tamar CaBA and other regional bodies.

Decision: Award grant of £137,324 (70%)

Unlocking Woking's Heritage Collection

Applicant: Woking Museum and Arts and Crafts Centre

Project description: To catalogue Woking’s heritage collection, digitise key records and reinterpret the city's history for a wider audience. To document the collection using MODES, conserve mixed media items, run handling sessions to gather local memories, and hold monthly workshops with young people to co-create new interpretation and merchandise. To develop a searchable public database and build links with the Shah Jahan Mosque archive. To introduce a new volunteer framework and conservation strategy to support long-term sustainability and community engagement.

Decision: Award grant of £148,599 (99%)

Rifles 21st Century Operations

Applicant: The Rifleman's Museum Trust

Project description: To explore the contemporary history of the Rifles regiment, share veterans’ experiences of recent conflicts and improve public understanding of modern military heritage. To collect 20–30 oral histories, accession and conserve around 300 artefacts, and design a new exhibition covering conflicts and diplomacy in areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe, to launch ahead of the regiment’s 20th anniversary. To redesign the museum entrance, create mini displays for partner museums and run audience development research with families and schools.

Decision: Award grant of £218,000 (44%)

#HP Pathways to the Past and Future: Involving volunteers and connecting communities in Medway to their heritage.

Applicant: Tempo Time Credits Ltd

Project description: To increase volunteering across heritage sites, remove barriers to participation, and support inclusive community engagement in Medway. To recruit a programme manager, run monthly volunteering workshops and quarterly networking events, and support heritage organisations to offer micro-volunteering opportunities through the Tempo Time Credits platform. To enable volunteers to attend local activities, co-produce a digital toolkit and contribute to case studies focused on young people and diversity. To build on existing initiatives and respond to strategic needs identified by Medway Council’s Heritage Audit.

Decision: Award grant of £232,874 (100%)

Museums for Nature

Applicant: Natural History Museum

Project description: To help museums understand their green spaces and engage communities with natural heritage. To work with eight museums to test GIS mapping tools, run nature days with local groups and collect biodiversity data to build a UK-wide picture of museum green spaces. To support partners to improve biodiversity and consult communities on environmental interventions. In the project’s second year, expand to 200 museums and aim to offer webinars, a digital platform and licences for GIS tools to support long-term nature recovery.

Decision: Award grant of £249,000 (60%)

The Portsmouth 100: Your Stories, Your Museum, Your City

Applicant: Portsmouth City Council

Project description: To celebrate Portsmouth’s 100 years of city status, to reflect its diverse history and engage communities to shape museum displays. To develop two new galleries at Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery, collect 100 filmed oral histories, run pop-up exhibitions with schools and community groups, and co-create interactive elements with local students. To train volunteers to conserve objects and guide exhibitions to showcase contemporary collections. To share outcomes with the wider audience through a publication, a film, a launch event and new accessible webpages.

Decision: Award grant of £249,000 (83%)

"We go on!": Uncovering the UK's LGBTQ+ Publishing History

Applicant: University of London

Project description: To catalogue and conserve a major LGBTQ+ literary collection, to engage communities to interpret its contents, and share its stories through public events and exhibitions. To recruit two cataloguers and an intern to document 30,000 items, digitise 200 objects and co-create a public and online exhibition with community partners. To produce events to include talks, workshops, hackathons and co-curation sessions with elderly LGBTQ+ people and host in London, Manchester and Liverpool. To collaborate with Gay’s the Word, PageMasters and the LGBT Foundation to support inclusive engagement and make all catalogue entries publicly accessible online.

Decision: Award grant of £249,176 (82%)

Insurance Heritage at Risk

Applicant: Insurance Museum

Project description: To investigate UK insurance heritage collections, to engage the public with the history of the broker’s profession and build the foundations for a future museum. To catalogue private archives, record oral histories with post-war professionals, run workshops and exhibitions, and develop curriculum-linked learning programmes for schools and families. To support collections work and engagement activities through volunteer work and develop a business plan and fundraising strategy to secure long-term sustainability. To deliver the project in partnerships with the Bank of England Museum, the Business Archives Council and education networks.

Decision: Award grant of £249,700 (94%)

Nature Stories – Using biodiversity data to inspire action for nature recovery

Applicant: National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBNT)

Project description: To promote biodiversity data and strengthen data storytelling across the nature sector. To recruit a nature storyteller and data analyst, commission a creative agency to produce 12–16 digital stories, and lead workshops, training sessions and conferences. To deliver engagement activities to include StoryMaps, videos, school sessions, and workshops for underserved communities. To explore paid data services to support long-term sustainability and expand the reach of the NBNT Atlas.

Decision: Reject

Chalk Lines: Linking habitats and species across Surrey Hills

Applicant: Buglife – the Invertebrate Conservation Trust

Project description: To restore chalk grassland habitats, support threatened invertebrate species and connect communities in Surrey with nature through conservation and learning. To recruit a conservation officer, conduct botanical and entomological surveys, restore 30ha of public land and advise landowners on improving 20ha of private land. To host outreach activities such as pollinator planting at care homes, conservation training for women at HMP Send and science workshops for volunteers.

Decision: Award grant of £249,993 (83%)

#HP Medway Heritage Place phase 2: strategy and sector development

Applicant: Medway Council

Project description: To strengthen Medway’s heritage sector, to support inclusive community-led projects, and embed heritage into local policy and planning. To appoint a consultant to develop a five-year strategy, run roundtables to shape a delivery plan, and offer small and medium grants to individuals and organisations for skills development, storytelling and partnership work. To develop a pilot programme with six heritage sites to improve accessibility and build sector capacity through monthly workshops and youth-focused initiatives. To develop a visitor strategy and a plan for commission evaluation and prepare for the next phase as a Heritage Place.

Decision: Award grant of £250,000 (91%)

All Saints Project Phase 2

Applicant: The Parish of Snodland with Lower Birling

Project description: To repair the fabric of the church's historic building, to improve biodiversity in the graveyard and engage the community with heritage and nature. To fix rainwater drainage, conserve medieval Kentish ragstone masonry and plant a wildflower meadow with drought-resistant native species. To deliver a programme of activities to include gardening sessions with local groups, bat talks, history tours and a film made with primary school children. To recruit volunteers through a new Men’s Gardening Group to help deliver events and maintain the site, supported by a heritage programme manager.

Decision: Award grant of £250,000 (94%)

Rooted: Fertility, Women and the Healing Landscape

Applicant: The Fertility Nurture Hub CIC

Project description: To support women experiencing infertility and explore Dorset’s spiritual and natural heritage. To run four guided walks and four creative workshops on journaling, poetry, photography and herbal practices, led by a wellbeing facilitator and guest artists. To showcase participants’ contributions and highlight the heritage themes explored in a physical and digital exhibition. To build community among participants and raise awareness of lesser-known stories linked to the landscape.

Decision: Reject

Hartley Court: History, Culture & Community

Applicant: easystepuk

Project description: To interpret the heritage of a local building, engage residents, young migrants and low-income families with rural life in Berkshire, and promote social inclusion through creative learning. To run guided tours, storytelling sessions and workshops. To produce digital outputs such as a website, online exhibition and a project page, supported by seminars, community engagement events and volunteer training.

Decision: Reject

Where I'm From

Applicant: INSIDE MY DNA CIC

Project description: To explore and share the heritage of African Caribbean communities in the UK, highlight underrepresented stories and connect heritage with personal and cultural identity. To run five workshops on African Caribbean celebrations, produce workbooks, purchase historical artefacts such as colonial Trinidadian notes, record oral testimonies and create four digital maps for an exhibition at Theatre Deli in London.

Decision: Reject

Entre Hilos y Sombreros: Saberes Vivos del Tolima y Colombia en el Reino Unido (Between Threads and Hats: Living Knowledge from Tolima and Colombia in the UK)

Applicant: CATUFA UK CIC

Project description: To showcase Colombian heritage in the UK, explore traditional costume and hat weaving, and engage new audiences through creative storytelling. To produce short documentaries on palm hat making and Colombian regional costumes, host an exhibition and parade during Expo Colombia 2025 and deliver engagement sessions to schools and community groups. To make these materials accessible to the public through a bilingual online archive.

Decision: Reject

Preserving Memories, Honouring Lives

Applicant: Love and Loss

Project description: To document the experiences of communities affected by violence in Islington and deliver initiatives guided by a group of youth leaders and bereaved families. To train young volunteers in oral history practices and ethical storytelling, collect 30 lived experience narratives and run creative workshops to explore tribute, activism and intergenerational memory. To host community-centred exhibitions in libraries and places of worship.

Decision: Reject

Our Voices, Our Lives: Preserving Everyday Stories of Disability and Resilience in East London

Applicant: Disable Training & Accommodation Services Ltd

Project description: To document disability and Global Majority heritage in East London. To train volunteers in ethical storytelling, oral history and public engagement, to collect 50–70 oral histories and run monthly trauma-informed workshops. To develop a digital archive and an exhibition with the Newham Archives, alongside a printed zine and a toolkit for local groups. To translate and interpret project materials in British Sign Language.

Decision: Reject

Water Water Everywhere – but not a drop to drink (and not through the roof)

Applicant: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Peter and St Paul Bishop's Hull

Project description: To repair rainwater drainage, conserve historic church masonry and reconnect the community with the site through educational activities. To install new guttering and downpipes, conserve Kentish ragstone on the church’s south and west elevations and produce worksheets for local schoolchildren. To update the church guide with new photos, improve online access through volunteer work and re-market the parish lounge to attract wider community use. To support organisational sustainability through a yearly maintenance budget and a new accounting system.

Decision: Reject

more than just food

Applicant: SS LIFE SKILS CIC

Project description: To preserve the intangible cultural heritage of traditional West African cuisine and address the challenges around the cost-of-living crisis faced by Black communities. To carry out a consultation with 150 parents, carers and young people. To deliver 50–80 workshops with 300 young people aged 12–18 across London and host a community food showcase.

Decision: Reject

Hatherleigh parish church, all access toilet and kitchen provision

Applicant: Hatherleigh Parochial Church Council

Project description: To improve the church’s accessibility, to support wider community use of its building and engage local schools and residents with its heritage. To convert the ground floor belfry into a step-free toilet, install a small kitchen and host school visits with archaeology and conservation talks. To host two events to celebrate the new facilities, with the support of volunteers.

Decision: Reject

Voice & Vision: The Empowered Women of Diaspora Bulletin

Applicant: Empowered Women of Diaspora CIC

Project description: To celebrate Albanian and Western Balkan women’s heritage, to build pride in cultural identity and connect diaspora communities through storytelling. To publish a bilingual monthly bulletin to feature creative writing, interviews, recipes, crafts and photography, with contributions from women of different generations. In the second year to expand the bulletin into new languages and deepen collaboration with women-led organisations. To create a digital and print archive and distribute it in community spaces and cultural events.

Decision: Reject

Celebrating Charlie: The Erasure and Legacy of a Black British Anti-Fascist

Applicant: Flintlock Theatre

Project description: To celebrate the life and legacy of Charlie Hutchison, and to challenge the erasure of Black British presence in rural heritage and engage young people in creative learning and commemoration. To run workshops with local schools, record oral histories with the Hutchison family and community members, and produce a podcast to explore themes of migration, activism and belonging. To host a touring exhibition at two museums, and install a permanent plaque at Hutchison’s birthplace, in partnership with Nubian Jak. To produce a final celebratory weekend with talks, workshops and the launch of the podcast and the exhibition.

Decision: Reject

Roots & Threads: Preserving Romanian Family Heritage in England through Embroidery and Migration Stories

Applicant: Romanian Mothers in the UK CIC

Project description: To preserve Romanian textile traditions, document migration stories, and connect communities through creative heritage activities. To conduct archival and oral history research, deliver embroidery workshops in London and across England, and acquire Romanian textiles to showcase in an exhibition. To create a bilingual website to showcase a digital embroidery pattern library, oral histories, geolocation mapping and a Romanian family heritage database. To exhibit project outcomes in London and the Lake District.

Decision: Reject

"Echoes of Home" Heritage, Language and Legacy

Applicant: ERITREAN SAHO Community Association

Project description: To document the stories of the African diaspora, train young people in digital media and celebrate heritage within the Horn of Africa communities in Lambeth. To recruit 45 participants over three years, deliver oral history and digital media training, and produce outputs to educate and engage with a wide audience, such as films, podcasts and exhibitions.

Decision: Reject

LayerCakeSOS (Save Our Stories) – Preserving Folkestone Workers' Heritage

Applicant: Folkestone Fringe

Project description: To preserve Folkestone’s fishing heritage, engage underserved communities in local history and strengthen the town’s heritage sector. To train 12 community curators in research and interpretation, collect stories and testimonies, develop exhibitions and heritage tours, and produce digital assets to include a trail and teaching resources. To deliver the activities after a community consultation and launch during the Folkestone Triennial.

Decision: Reject

Helping Hands, Shaping Hearts

Applicant: Empowered Women of Diaspora CIC

Project description: To celebrate Albanian cultural heritage and crafts, teach children pottery skills and connect communities through creative expression. To set up pottery studios in five schools, train university mentors to lead workshops, and produce 300 ceramic pieces for an exhibition and a printed catalogue. To produce and share online a training film and a digital toolkit.

Decision: Reject

Windows to the past: Restoring Baily's Victorian legacy to seal its future

Applicant: Beckery Island Regeneration Trust

Project description: To weatherproof the Baily’s Victorian buildings, restore its historic cast iron windows and support the site’s regeneration for community and commercial use. To survey and remove original windows, send them to specialist workshops, design new castings and reinstall them with glazing and putty. To enable the completion of the project’s first phase and the arrival of an anchor tenant, and to generate revenue for future development and organisational sustainability.

Decision: Reject

Celebrating 185 years of RAD – Deaf past, present, and future

Applicant: The Royal Association for Deaf People

Project description: To celebrate the 185th anniversary of RAD, document D/deaf people’s heritage and engage the community through creative and digital outputs. To commission a documentary film from a professional filmmaker, digitise key publications, run art workshops with D/deaf schools and clubs, and produce bespoke artworks for public display. To create merchandise from these activities and distribute it through the organisation's outreach and engagement activities. To open a new dedicated website to host the film, the project timeline and archive materials.

Decision: Reject

Restoring East Cowes Town Hall: Preserving Heritage, Strengthening Community

Applicant: East Cowes Town Council

Project description: To restore East Cowes Town Hall, to preserve its historic features and ensure continued public access. To repair masonry and roof tiles, restore the bell tower and clock face, replace windows with energy-efficient units and redecorate internal areas. To support structural investigations with safety netting and scaffolding and enhance visitor experience through improvements to seating and access.

Decision: Reject

Phase 1 Development – Meliorism: Investing in Regenerative Intelligence – The Carbon + Sustainability Land Venture

Applicant: Willow & Riverstone Sidelands CIC

Project description: To acquire and safeguard The Sidelands in Oxfordshire, restore its traditional stone buildings and natural landscape and enable future public access and eco-tourism. To purchase 12.08 acres of land, conduct ecological surveys, sow wildflower meadows, plant native woodland and install signage and access paths. To produce digital outputs such as vlogs, virtual guides and educational resources.

Decision: Reject

Grant percentage change

Cookham Abbey Connects

Applicant: University of Reading

Project description: To increase heritage interpretation and conservation, co-create new learning opportunities and link communities to represent the vibrant mix of cultures and faiths locally to the spiritual sites of the middle Thames region.

Decision: Award grant percentage change from 89% to 97%