Community heritage
Credit: Nigel Roddis
Celebrating community heritage can help people come together, feel pride in where they live and save stories and traditions.
Since 1994 we have awarded £460million to more than 24,100 community and cultural heritage projects across the UK.
What do we support?
We fund projects that are researching, conserving and celebrating the heritage of a community or place.
These projects could include lots of types of heritage, such as people celebrating living customs or improving a historic green space. What's most important is that the project involves and benefits the community.
Project ideas
Our funding could help people:
- research the impact of a historical event on their town, and share their findings through displays, talks and online
- investigate the names on a war memorial
- crowdsource documents and photographs linked to the LGBTQ+ 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
For more inspiration, see the stories below or browse projects we've funded.
How to get funding
If you have an idea for a project, we would love to hear from you.
News
Digital "lifeline" for Belfast's Clifton House
Despite its doors being closed, Clifton House in North Belfast can now welcome more visitors than ever before, thanks to a Heritage Emergency Fund grant.
Blogs
From "unsettlement" to a new future
There have been few more global events disruptive of the pattern of life than the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown. Yet the impacts of the pandemic – which are only just beginning to be understood – only amplify an already unsettled outlook. "Unsettledness" is becoming a way of life." People are on
Experimental photography at Llannon Cottage, Ceredigion
Blogs
Engaging young people in heritage from home
I often hear it said that it is difficult to get young people involved in heritage. I do not believe this to be true, and we have had no difficulty in attracting young people to be part of the Royal Commission’s youth engagement project, Unloved Heritage?. This has been running for three years now
The landscape of Binevenagh
News
"Huge" investment for Northern Ireland's heritage
Northern Ireland’s beautiful landscapes are to receive a boost as 11 heritage projects across the country are set to benefit from £5million National Lottery investment.
News
Public help solve mystery of 2000-year-old warrior
An Iron Age warrior found buried on a housing estate has gone on public display in Chichester thanks to National Lottery players.
Programme
Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage – Emergency Resource Support
Part of the rescue package announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to safeguard cultural and heritage organisations across England from the economic impact of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Stories
25 years: reviving the forgotten heritage of The Broads
Great Yarmouth A stone’s throw from the heart of The Broads and its sprawling landscape in the East of England, is the seaside town of Great Yarmouth. As we hear more and more that our coastal towns are suffering from neglect, National Lottery funding over the last 25 years has aimed to buck the
Blogs
Eulogy - telling the stories of first generation Jamaicans
It was losing my father Hermerde in September 2017 and the funeral of one of his closest friends exactly a year later that inspired the Eulogy project.
Stories
After Windrush - telling stories of struggle and celebration
Why did you want to make this film? I had the idea for about 25 years. I'm an African-Caribbean British Yorkshireman. I was born here, raised here. I saw my mother and father go through racism, I went through it at school. Then when I came out of the military, I couldn’t even get a job, people were
Blogs
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.
Stories
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
Stories
25 years: Derry Girls star takes us on a tour of her home city
Derry~Londonderry Also known as the Walled City thanks to its historic 17 th-century walls, Derry~Londonderry is Northern Ireland’s second-largest city. It is home to over 150,000 people and a wealth of heritage treasures, including museums, arts venues, cathedrals, parks and waterways. Over the