Museums, libraries and archives

Museums, libraries and archives

Museums, libraries and archives
Museums, libraries and archives tell the stories of our cultural heritage.

Through preservation, exhibition and community engagement, they can bring collections, places and ideas to life. They help us to understand culture, science and history, and give us a sense of place, identity and community.

Thanks to National Lottery players, since 1994 we have awarded £2.6billion to more than 6,100 museum, library, archive and collection-based projects across the UK.

What do we support?

We provide grants for heritage projects from £10,000–£10million for projects led by or featuring museums, libraries and archives.

Our funding supports institutions large and small, including:

  • national, local authority and independent museums, libraries and archives
  • historic libraries
  • community archives and oral history collections
  • institutions with heritage collections

Strategic support for archives

Archives Revealed is the only grant programme in the UK dedicated to cataloguing archival collections. We've invested £5m in the programme as one of our strategic initiatives. 

We're working with The National Archives, The Pilgrim Trust and The Wolfson Foundation to address the significant need to catalogue and open up archive collections across the UK. Read more about what's being achieved with the funding below.

Project ideas

Our funding could help people:

  • create exciting new exhibition and learning spaces
  • attract new and more diverse audiences
  • acquire new items and develop collections
  • improve organisational resilience

For more inspiration see the stories below or browse projects we've funded.

How to get funding

Our National Lottery Heritage Grants programme is open for applications.

a person looks at old documents

Basic Page

Archives Revealed

With our support, The National Archives is expanding the only grant programme in the UK dedicated to cataloguing archival collections.
an assortment of historic photographs, letters and drawings about excavations of Hadrian's Wall
The documents, photographs, notes and research of the archaeologists who rediscovered the history of Hadrian's Wall are being catalogued as part of The Vindolanda Trust's Archives Revealed project. Credit: The Vindolanda Trust.

Stories

From Hadrian’s Wall to hip hop: how Archives Revealed is unlocking collections

Our £5million investment is scaling up the ambition of a grants programme helping archives and museums tackle their backlog of uncatalogued material, and rediscover fascinating stories in the process.
Children in a museum
Children enjoying an exhibition at Seven Stories, Newcastle upon Tyne

Hub

Dynamic Collections

Our campaign supported collecting organisations across the UK to become more inclusive and resilient with a focus on engagement, re-interpretation and collections management.
a busy high street with gazebos with information about the museum's redevelopment
Ballycastle Museum’s current home, the black and white building, will expand sideways into the cream building. Credit: Causeway Coast and Glens Museum Services.

Stories

Grantee Q&A: how Ballycastle Museum pivoted from project-ending issues to success

Dogged perseverance and good teamwork can overcome (almost) any problem says Dr Nic Wright, Ballycastle Museum Project Officer at Causeway Coast and Glens Museum Services.

If you query is regarding our application portal, please contact our support team.