Cultures and memories
Since 1994 we have awarded over £510million to more than 24,600 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.
Projects
Hadhari Oral History Project
The Hadhari project recorded memories from a local African-Caribbean care group in Derby, which were at risk of being lost forever.
Projects
How I Got Here - Journey to Fareham
The project focused on the exploration of maps and local archive material to illustrate the inter-generational journeys of people, from different cultural backgrounds and communities, who now live in Fareham.
Projects
From Plants to Pills - the history of health in Warwickshire
Local groups from across Warwickshire explored the history of health and medicine, in this community-led project.
Projects
Let's Play Stoolball!
Sussex schoolchildren were introduced to stoolball, a medieval forerunner of cricket, in a wide-ranging sport and rural history project.
Projects
100 years of the Women's Institute in the Isle of Ely
The project celebrated 100 years of the Women’s Institute (WI) in the Isle of Ely.
Projects
History's Mirror: revisiting clothing from 1900 to the early 2000s
This project was based around a dress collection that was gifted to City College Peterborough.
Projects
Asian Traditional Games of early 20th Century (1900-1950)
The origins of traditional Indian games, the rules and how they changed after players traveled to the UK, were recorded in this intergenerational oral history project.
Projects
Family Adams Project (FAP)
The aim of The Family Adams Project was to develop a community archive of a Victorian shop found in the historic heart of Littleport town.
Projects
No Beaches in the Rhondda: 50 years of Cold Knap Lifeguard Club
The Rhondda (Cold Knap) Lifeguard Club led an 18-month project to record memories to celebrate 50 years of the club.
Projects
Exploring memories of Carnlough through photography
The project explored the heritage of Carnlough using a private collection of photographs taken by the late Jim McNeill during the 1960s and 1970s.
Projects
Celebrating Pakistani heritage in Burnley
This project captured the memories of Pakistani residents of Burnley, highlighting their contribution to the town’s culture and development between 1960 and 2010.
Projects
Scarlets Community Heritage Project
Founded in 1872, Llanelli Scarlets Rugby Football Club is one of the oldest in the world and a source of passionate local pride.