Cultures and memories

Since 1994 we have awarded over £480million to more than 24,500 community and cultural heritage projects 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. This often involves capturing oral histories and ensuring they are 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
If you have an idea for a project, we would love to hear from you.

Stories
How community grants can support grassroots heritage

Projects
Uncovering Deaf stories in Northern Ireland
A new heritage video library is sharing the untold stories of Northern Ireland’s sign languages and Deaf communities.

Projects
Celebrating 800 years of heritage in North Shields
Our funding will support 10 exciting projects as part of the wider North Shields 800 programme, conserving and sharing the town’s past, present and future.

News
Supporting Welsh heritage at The National Eisteddfod

Projects
How collaboration helped Belfast Archive Project reach new audiences
Through working with national partners, a team of dedicated volunteers has unearthed remarkable photographic treasures documenting the history of Northern Ireland.

Stories
The extraordinary 18th-century women inspiring young people to embrace heritage

Projects
Lost Mills and Ghost Mansions
This oral history project captured the unheard voices of Bradford’s textile mill workers to celebrate the area’s rich industrial heritage.

Stories
Mind the gap: uncovering missing stories from railway history

Stories
How artists can uncover hidden histories and fill gaps in the archives

Stories
Shining a light on Arthur Wharton: the first black professional footballer

Projects
The Hidden Heritage of Wellbeing in the Community: co-creating oral histories of mental health care
Nottingham’s Middle Street Resource Centre celebrated 50 years of service by recording stories from its community with researchers at Nottingham Trent University.

Projects
Wotta Lotta Culture – The Birmingham Allotment Project
This oral history project has celebrated the communities at the heart of the ‘allotment capital’ of the UK.