Heritage has a crucial role to play in enriching the lives of children and young people, creating a more inclusive society.
Over the past 25 years, we are proud to have invested over £60million across the UK in projects working with children and young people. This includes the £10m Kick the Dust programme.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is committed to making heritage more inclusive and accessible to a wider range of people and this includes the younger generations. We know that children and young people can play a significant role in creating innovative and exciting heritage projects that really speak to them.
Explore some of our work below and find inspiration for your project, then discover whether your idea is eligible for funding.
Blog
Let’s talk about young people and heritage
This year marks the 25th Birthday of The National Lottery. At The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have a long history of funding heritage projects with children and young people. Since 2002 t hrough Young Roots, and more recently Kick the Dust, an ambitious £10million programme to transform how
Blog
Young people celebrate important figures of Wales' LGBT+ history
Holly Morgan-Davies from National Museum Wales' Hands on Heritage project writes about the fascinating stories she's discovered from Wales' LGBT+ past.
Story
Helping all young people get hands on with nature
We spent a day in Sydenham Hill Wood, south London, where theories about wellbeing are guiding young people's interactions with our wild places.
A blog by Rosie Gibson, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Social Media Manager
Blog
Ways to meaningfully involve young people in heritage
We believe involving young people in heritage projects is vital - but it can be tricky. Here are some ideas.
Young people in Crewe connected with the heritage of their town using digital gaming
Project
Blog
Teen Digital Takeover: getting young people into museums
Today is the Kids in Museums Teen Digital Takeover: when young people take over the social media accounts of museums, galleries and heritage sites across the UK. The 2018 Audience Agency Museums Audience Report identifies 16-24 year-olds as one of four key museum audiences. However, it also
Publication
Kick The Dust Evaluation
Renaisi and Centre for Youth Impact are conducting an independent programme evaluation, tracking change and progress of the programme over five years. They are working closely with the twelve funded KtD projects, to assess the impact of the programme, improve project evaluation, encourage reflective
News article
UK's oldest children’s charity to tell the story of care
Coram has received a £1.26million National Lottery grant to digitise part of its archive, which dates back for nearly three centuries.
Blog
How a 200-year-old society is inspiring young minorities in Brum
The Lunar Society was an informal gathering of leaders, industrialists and scientists in Birmingham who met regularly 200 years ago to discuss matters of the country. You might be wondering what this has to do with minorities today in Brum. Just as Birmingham’s original Lunar Society talked about
News article
The skills programme breaking down barriers to working in Scotland’s museums
The Skills for Success programme, led by Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, has been turning the traditional recruitment processes on its head to build a workforce that better represents communities. The programme offered work-based experience at
Blog
A missing voice - the young person in the museum
I have thought a lot about where and how there can be a space for young people in museums. As part of the Digital Maker Club, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund's Kick the Dust programme , a group of young people (including me) were brought into the Ulster Museum and over several weeks,
News article
Remembering the Peterloo Massacre – 200 years on
Two centuries after ordinary people in Manchester demanded freedom from oppression, young people are expressing what protest means to them today.
Blog
Why communities are essential to sharing the stories of Pride
These significant and inclusive events raise the profile of all sorts of LGBT+ lived experiences, celebrate activism and build stronger alliances. They increasingly involve people of all ages, cultures and faiths in publicly sharing differing identities. Alongside Stonewall’s 50th anniversary this
Story
Changing lives: St Fagan's course helps Tom beat anxiety
Tilly the dog helps Tom Jenkin tackle his anxiety. But it was a National Lottery-funded lambing course which gave him the confidence to aim for a career as a vet.
Story
Changing lives: volunteering helps Ben turn away from trouble
The youth club at the Galley Centre offered the young people of Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, a reason to keep off the streets and out of trouble. But when bored teenagers, including some of 17-year-old Ben's friends, vandalised the centre, the youth club was closed down. It left them with nothing to do
Discussion
Vocational Qualifications in the heritage sector
Changing Perceptions Of Vocational Qualifications Are you delivering vocational qualifications as part of your project? Ofqual has commissioned Pye Tait Consulting to find out what providers, learners, and employers think about vocational and technical qualifications. The research is part of a study