Celebrating our community heritage can help bring people together, feel pride in where they live and save stories and traditions.
Thanks to National Lottery players, since 2012 we have awarded over £90million to more than 2,700 community heritage projects across the UK.
What do we support?
We help people researching and sharing the history of a community or of a place.
We also fund projects which combine different types of heritage in a particular location.
Project ideas
Our funding could help people:
- research the impact of a historical event on their town. They could then share their findings through displays, talks and online
- investigate the names on a war memorial
- crowdsource documents and photographs linked to the LGBT+ community, creating an online archive and exhibition
- set up an audio trail around a range of buildings, parks and monuments in a town
- enable a youth group to research their local history and create an animated film about their learnings
How to get funding
News article
Narberth’s golden era of pop and rock remembered
During the late 1960s the Queens Hall in Narberth, Pembrokeshire, gained an unlikely reputation amongst pop and rock music fans as a venue that attracted some of the biggest names in the business.
Charcoal drawing by Brothers Behind Bars participant, John G
John G
Project
Publication
All Our Stories evaluation
All Our Stories was a UK-wide community heritage programme designed to explore, share and celebrate local heritage.
News article
New exhibition tells story of Teesside's steelmaking history
Opening today (5 April) at Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar, Steel Stories brings together local voices for the museum's "best exhibition yet".
News article
The story of the Hornchurch skatepark that made history
Rom Skatepark has had its fair share of ups and downs, from becoming the first listed skatepark in Europe to suffering a devastating fire just after it celebrated its 40th anniversary.
News article
Leeds Eulogy project to celebrate Jamaican lives
An “uplifting” tribute is to be made to the many first-generation Jamaicans who travelled 5,000 miles to make a new life in the city of Leeds.
Blog
Every voice matters - collecting black stories
A few months into his new role, Nasir Adam explains what he's doing to bring the museum together with black communities across Wales.
Story
After Windrush - telling stories of struggle and celebration
Huddersfield community leader Milton Brown on the very personal journey which led to the film Windrush: The Years After, part-funded by The National Lottery.
Story
25 years: discovering the origins of grime and connecting communities in Waltham Forest
Since the National Lottery began 25 years ago, more than £20million has been invested in Waltham Forest’s heritage. It’s restored historic buildings, helped nature thrive and rejuvenated streets. It’s also explored some incredible community stories, including the history of grime music. “It’s helped
Story
25 years: Derry Girls star takes us on a tour of her home city
To celebrate The National Lottery’s 25th Birthday, we explore (with help from Saoirse-Monica Jackson) how its investment in heritage has transformed Northern Ireland’s second city.
Blog
25 years: The promise of better days – how National Lottery funding helped transform Northern Ireland’s second city
Indeed, 25 years ago was a time of great hope and greater belief as we saw the end of a violent and dark time in our history and the promise of better days emerging. It was against this backdrop that the relationship between The National Lottery Heritage Fund and this city began to take root. It is
News article
25 years: Restoring the prosperity and pride of Blaenavon
Blaenavon: a community reborn Perched high on a South Wales hillside, Blaenavon is a community forged from the heat, smoke and dust of the Industrial Revolution. Its ironworks and coal pit provided the majority of the town’s residents with employment until 1980. The town's shops, churches, chapels,
News article
25 years: Voices from Blaenavon
For over a quarter of a century, The National Lottery has been a major catalyst to revive and regenerate communities across the UK through heritage. We visited Blaenavon to see how National Lottery funding has helped this once beleaguered post-industrial town revive its fortunes and restore its
Blog
Eulogy - the responsibility of telling the Windrush generation's stories
I wanted my Dad’s funeral programme to be both functional and something that told his story for our family, especially his grand and great-grandchildren. I knew his dear friend ‘Sunny Man’ my entire life. But it wasn’t until seeing Sunny’s funeral programme that I knew his real name was Daniel
Story
In conversation: Jan Pimblett and Veronica McKenzie on archives and collecting stories of LGBT+ people’s lives
The pair discussed the importance of involving a diverse range of people in their work and how crucial it is to document ordinary people's lives. They also reflected on the progress made by the LGBT+ community over the past 50 years, as well as the challenges they still face. It was an insightful
News article
The first six months: our Strategic Funding Framework
It is six months since we launched our new name, grants structure and Strategic Funding Framework. Here’s what’s happened.