Museums, libraries and archives

A person handles large parchment documents in an archive room, with shelves of archive boxes in the background

Black Cultural Archives. Credit: Kois Miah

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

Through objects, collections, film, documents and oral histories they help to give us a sense of place and identity.

Thanks to National Lottery players, since 1994 we have awarded £2.4billion to 5,900 museum, library, archive and collection-based projects across the UK.

What do we support?

Our funding supports institutions large and small, including:

national and local authority museums, libraries and archives
historic libraries
community archives
institutions with heritage collections

Project ideas

Our funding could help people:

create exciting new exhibition and learning spaces
attract more diverse audiences
interpret and open up acquisitions
develop collections

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.

Find out more and apply

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.

Two women and a baby look at museum display

Videos

Dynamic Collections: a visit to Craven Museum

Take a look at how the museum opened up its collections and worked closely with the community.

Fabric token

Projects

Voices Through Time: The Story of Care

Hundreds of volunteers are helping children’s charity Coram digitise and share its historic archive online.

06/03/2018

Projects

Touching stitches: embroidery access for the blind

This innovative project explored ways to enable blind and partially sighted people to access the Edinburgh College of Art’s historic textile collection, which spans over three centuries.

29/05/2019

People walk around the exhibits including peace banners and posters

Exhibition and collection items on display in the new building at Salt Mills.

Projects

Bradford’s unique museum exploring peace moves to Saltaire

The Peace Museum has made its collection more accessible in its new permanent home at Salt Mills in Saltaire, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

19/07/2022

Blogs

How to engage young and diverse audiences with your archives

Shjodi Ison shares her experiences of joining a Heritage Fund project as an apprentice, the positive impact of inclusive recruitment and how it has given clarity to her future.

03/09/2024

A group of people are in a studio taking part in a movement and dance workshop

Young people take part in a movement and performance workshop as part of the Catalyser learning programme.

Projects

Choreozone: Activating an Archive

Clod Ensemble is celebrating and sharing the lived experience of performance artists, improving access to the collections and inspiring a younger generation.

24/03/2023

A group of school children hold books about life during the second world war and pose around a display related to the second world war

School pupils learned about the Second World War as part of outreach activities at The Hold.

Projects

A state-of-the-art home for the Suffolk Archives collections at The Hold

A flagship heritage building equipped with the latest technology and facilities, The Hold is enabling people to learn more about their heritage.

19/04/2016

A group of people some wearing high-vis jackets stand together in front of a round house made from wood with a thatch roof

Some of the team stand in front of the newly completed roundhouses.

Stories

Case study: The Scottish Crannog Centre

The local community and natural environment are central to this sustainable museum, joint winner of Sustainable Project of the Year at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2024.

A cap embroidered with a Welsh dragon and the date 1910

Billy Meredith's cap from the Scotland vs Wales match in 1910. Credit: Wrexham Museum.

Projects

A Museum of Two Halves: Wrexham celebrates football and community heritage

Wrexham’s museum is bringing football heritage back to its historic home in Wales thanks to a £2.7million award.

09/06/2022

A rock walled mineshaft illuminated by torchlight stretched into the distance, in the foreground the silhouette of a person wearing a miners helmet and looking along the tunnel

In Lochnell Mine visitors can experience how Wanlockhead's miners worked.

Projects

Lead turns Gold! The Museum of Lead Mining is 50

Situated at the top of the Mennock Pass the museum is a hub for information, equipment and permits for gold panning in the area.

24/04/2024

People looking at display cases in a mezzanine gallery.

Meet the Changemakers event on Manchester Museum Top Floor. Credit: Manchester Museum.

Stories

Case study: Roots and Branches

Joint winners of the Sustainable Project of the Year Award at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2024, Manchester Museum and Museum Development England, share their tips for growing a Carbon Literate museum community.

A person in an apron helping another person use a pottery wheel

News

£7.6million awarded to unique museums around the UK

From iconic football shirts to the world’s first deep-sea diving helmet, we’re supporting projects to share rare historic objects with the public.

30/07/2024

A group of people outside a heritage building featuring a clock tower at Hopetown Darlington.

Staff from Darlington Borough Council and Hopetown.Darlington at the new visitor attraction.

Projects

Hopetown: celebrating the North East’s railway heritage

A state-of-the-art visitor attraction and community engagement scheme celebrates the historic Stockton and Darlington railway line.

02/12/2021

a man takes a cloth bag containing a rolled up document off a shelf in an archive

Liverpool Record Office.

News

Partnership unlocking the UK’s archives awarded £5million

This is one of our biggest investments into archives this century, made possible by National Lottery players.

11/07/2024

Staff outside The Story.

Projects

A new home for County Durham’s historic collections

Mount Oswald, a Grade II Listed manor house, has been transformed into The Story, a new visitor attraction celebrating the heritage of County Durham.

28/11/2019