People in front of buildings

Community heritage

  1. Home
  2. Our work
  3. Community heritage

Community heritage

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

Find out whether your project is eligible for funding.

Janet Mason with signed photo of Love Affair

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.

Publication

All Our Stories evaluation

All Our Stories was a UK-wide community heritage programme designed to explore, share and celebrate local heritage.
Black and white photograph of man sitting down
Daniel Bloomfield came to Leeds from Jamaica in 1954. The studio photo is typical of those included in funeral programmes of first-generation Jamaicans and other West Indians. Gerald Donne

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.
Susan Pitter

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
Brighton Pride, 1995
Brighton Pride, 1995. Credit: Sally Munt. Sally Munt

Blog

Future-proofing heritage: experience and advice from Brighton LGBT+ leaders

Lesley, Chief Executive of New Writing South, and David, Co-Artistic Director of Marlborough Theatre, are collaborating on the project, Building Brighton LGBTQ+ Heritage. Their aim is to ensure effective management of LGBT+ heritage in Brighton and Hove now and in the future. The project involves
Bottlenose Dolphin

News article

Free family events for the summer holidays

The summer holidays are perfect for spending quality time outside with your loved ones. Need inspiration for what to do? These nine National Lottery funded ideas are a breath of fresh air.
Two women

Story

Making friends through heritage: four stories

Nelli and Zara Aratta: Armenian Heritage in the North West Zara, project manager: We were organising a food event on Albert Square and I posted about it on Facebook to see if people would like to take part. Nelli messaged me straight away saying that she would make a few dishes and bake a cake.