These are the customs and traditions, skills and knowledge, passed down to us through generations – and adapted to suit our modern lives. They are also our personal histories, the experiences that have shaped us and our society.
Thanks to National Lottery players we have awarded over £340million to more than 21,800 projects exploring our cultures and memories across the UK.
What do we support?
We fund projects which help to explore, save and celebrate the traditions, customs, skills and knowledge of different communities.
This cultural heritage is sometimes referred to as intangible or living heritage. This is because it is constantly changing and kept alive when practiced or performed.
We also fund projects which document and share people’s memories. These projects often involve oral history interviews, capturing people’s stories and opinions digitally, and making sure they are deposited and accessible now and in the future.
Project ideas
Our funding could help people:
- research and share oral traditions, such as storytelling or local dialects
- train others in traditional skills and crafts, from dry stone walling and blacksmithing to basket weaving and textile making
- research the origins of culture, such as music, theatre or dance, and create performances influenced by past styles
- share the history and fun of celebrations, festivals or rituals with new audiences, from games and cooking to carnivals and fayres
- capture accounts of traditional knowledge or pass it on, such as woodland management or home remedies
- record the stories of ordinary people through oral histories, for example about growing up, migration or work
- retell people’s memories about a place or event, such as a long-stay hospital, the miners' strikes or the punk movement
How to get funding
610 Squadron at Biggin Hill
News article
Hear the real voices of the Battle of Britain at Biggin Hill Memorial Museum
The airfield that played a pivotal role in the Battle of Britain is now home to a National Lottery funded museum, sharing the stories and voices of those who lived and served there.
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".
Story
Changing lives: Johnson digs deep and reunites with mining colleagues
Johnson-John Baptiste worked in Nottinghamshire mines for 26 years. A National Lottery-funded project helped him to reunite with his former colleagues and celebrate his achievements.
Young people interviewing for the radio station
Project
Zena McAllister leads a First World War walking history trail in Killyleagh
Project
News article
Places of Poetry launches search for thousands of poems
People are penning poems about the places they love and pinning them to a digital map as part of a new National Lottery project – and you are invited to add your own!
Young people learning ancient crafting techniques
Project
Project
Bread making session with the mobile oven
Paul Pickard
Project
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.
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
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
Story
Unmissable openings this autumn
Wherever you live - or whatever you enjoy doing - this autumn sees an exciting array of National Lottery-funded attractions opening across the country.
Sharon McCutcheon
News article
First large-scale LGBT+ project to be funded in Northern Ireland
A new project, which will tell the story of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, will be the first of its kind.
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
News article
Five Cornish treasures found at Kresen Kernow
A derelict brewery has been transformed into a state-of-the-art archive centre, bringing 850 years of Cornish history under one roof for the first time.
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.